


When Harry Met Trixie (And The Devil Came Too)

by FearTheSpork



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Maze kills a guy, Protective Lucifer, chloe and lucifer are horny af and it shows, im as surprised as you are, its a multichapter fic, like a lot of it, set before season four because its taken me a year to write it, so is all the smut, super duper awesome Lucifer and Trixie relationship, thats not a spoiler its an inevitability, theres a hellhound because tropes and also fuck you thats why
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2020-07-10 05:29:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 48,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19900579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FearTheSpork/pseuds/FearTheSpork
Summary: Chloe Decker has only known Harry Fisher for a few days- but she already knows that she wouldn't leave her daughter alone with him if you paid her a million dollars.When she shares her fears with Lucifer, she witnesses first hand just how protective the Devil can be- and what lengths he'll go to, to protect his family.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *be me, a trash goblin emerging from under her rock, for the first time in a thousand years*
> 
> I made a thing. Take it.

****Chapter One** **

“Detective! What a pleasant surprise,” Lucifer exclaimed, watching as Chloe strode across the empty dance floor of Lux.

She waved at him before sliding into the opposite side of the booth.

He hadn’t been expecting to see her that afternoon. She’d been clear that having paperwork on top of her visiting, overbearing mother was enough to keep her busy for the next century. So colour him surprised to have her here- looking like she’d stepped out of one of his many, many fantasies.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked, flagging down Patrick for drinks on his way past.

Chloe tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, looking more exhausted than he’d seen her in the past few months- which was certainly a feat, considering.

But she didn’t immediately spill her woes.

Instead, she took a long drink from the glass that had suddenly appeared in front of her and smiled across the table at him. He wondered if he’d ever get tired of being on the receiving end of that smile. It was looking doubtful.

“What, I can’t drop by to see what my boyfriend is doing?”

Lucifer raised his eyebrow, incredulous. From the way her eyes dipped down to her glass to the subtle shift in her posture and the gentle pull of her bottom lip between her teeth, he didn’t even need to be the Devil to know she was stalling.

He closed Lux’s thick, brown accounting book with a sharp snap and reclined. Waiting.

It took only thirteen seconds for her to sigh and lean forward, rubbing the pad of her thumb against the rim of the glass.

“I need your help with something.”

Well. His face lit up like a firework against the night sky and judging from the sparkle in Chloe’s eyes, she wasn’t exactly adverse to the reaction.

“It might just be me being overly paranoid but I’d like a second opinion and you’re my boyfriend so…”

“Say no more darling, I’m already there,” he said, waving away her hasty explanation. If she desired his help with something that was bothering her then consider him glued to her side until it was dealt with. Chloe shook her head, unable to stop the breathy laugh of exasperation.

“You don’t even know what I’m asking yet,” she said, but her tone and her posture were more relaxed than when she’d arrived.

“If it’s something salacious that involves us playing with handcuffs then I’m doubly in,” Lucifer added teasingly, waggling his eyebrows. Chloe snorted and rolled her eyes because he could just never, ever resist and maybe she found it just the teeniest bit adorable.

“No, you dork.”

He pouted exaggeratedly.

“No, look we’re getting off track” she said with a sigh and the humour was suddenly gone from her voice, replaced by a sort of distant worry that made his stomach tighten. He knew that tone. She had a gut feeling about something and if it was anything like her other gut feelings, it was probably right.

Which meant trouble.

“I need you to come to dinner tonight.”

He hadn’t been expecting _that._

“Not that I’m complaining darling, but we had dinner together last night. And the night before that. A text would have done,” he said, a smile pulling at his lips. In spite of his confusion over her request- he couldn’t help the warmth that spread through him when he recalled the last few months.

This whole dating scene was certainly exhilarating.

Sharing smiles and secret glances that only they knew the meaning of. Touches under the desk at work and stolen kisses when no-one else was looking. He was loving every moment of it. Every moment of _her._ Of how she allowed him in, looked for him when he entered a room and how she smiled when she saw him.

A part of him wondered if anyone else in his life had ever looked at him like she did- even knowing what she knew about him. How even now, he was still baffled over the way she leaned into his touch instead of recoiling- knowing what lay beneath the polished veneer.

“This is different.” Chloe said, interrupting his train of thought and her hand covered his on the table.

He tilted his palm upwards, squeezing her fingers. His brow furrowed.

“Darling? Tell me,” he said and cocked his head to the side, his handsome face creased with concern. Chloe sighed and rubbed at her eyes, tongue pressed to the inside of her cheek.

“It might be nothing. I might be overreacting…”

“But?” he pressed.

“I need you to meet my mom’s new boyfriend,” she said and the joke he was about to tell died in his throat when he looked at the expression on her face. She only ever looked like that in her most serious moments and Lucifer felt a wave of discomfort wash over him. Whatever she was thinking was not leading anywhere pleasant.

“You don’t like him?” he probed, head tilting to the side to search her expression. Chloe shook her head.

“No, I don’t.”

“Is that not a natural reaction to one’s parent ‘moving on’, as it were? A general dislike for the intruding figure that’s threatening to replace another?” Chloe looked at him when he’d finished, eyes wide and he couldn’t exactly blame her. “Doctor Linda’s influence. Sorry,” he said, waving his hand to move the conversation along. “But the point still stands.”

“Lucifer, _babe_ ,” she said, a laugh slipping out. “I’m in my thirties and my mom goes through men like a lawnmower through grass. I’m used to the boyfriend part, believe me.”

Lucifer wrinkled his nose at the insinuation that Penelope Decker was something of a maneater.

“I did _not_ need that tidbit of information, thank you very much,” he sniffed primly.

Chloe huffed another laugh, the tension in her shoulders easing ever so slightly at the thought that no matter what- her boyfriend would never change. It was comforting. _He_ was comforting. Devilish side and all. Which was why she needed him at dinner tonight.

With no further prompting, she spilled what was on her mind at last.

“I don’t like the way he looks at Trix,” she said, her voice soft even to her own ears. It seemed both silly and yet assuring to say it out loud at last.

But the air in the room stilled as soon as she stopped talking.

It was almost unnerving the way that Lucifer’s mood could change a room’s atmosphere.

The sharp clinking of glasses behind the bar turned duller and the ticking of the clock seemed slower almost. Imagination or not, she could have sworn that the temperature dipped as well. It was like the rising tide of anger inside him was another party altogether, seeping in and draining the room of life.

A chill crept along her spine from the base to her neck and she suppressed a shiver.

Across from her, Lucifer was attempting to not break something.

Like the entire building.

It took a moment for the spell to pass but Chloe still had to reach forward to bring him back to her. A warm palm on his cheek was all it took and he shook himself out of any premature rage that might have been rising.

It might be prudent, after all, to check all of the facts before he found said boyfriend and strung him up from the nearest tree.

Having pulled his little family here on earth back from the brink it had been teetering on for the past year, Lucifer had found himself a kindred spirit in Beatrice Decker. One he would never admit to having but who he held in the softest part of his heart anyway. The part he’d always assumed would be for Chloe and Chloe only.

Fat chance.

They couldn’t even share a bed without Beatrice flinging herself in the middle of them with the excuse of ‘ _my bed isn’t comfy enough _’__.

Bridges had been restored between himself and Mazikeen and as such, he often found himself on the receiving end of their endless antics. He couldn’t bring himself to be angry though. Not if it meant keeping this little thing they all had now alive and well.

It was beating and pure and _warm._

__

He had family days now. With Chloe and Beatrice giggling at his apron while he served dinner. Movie nights with Chloe in his arms and her child buried between Linda and Maze- a popcorn bowl the size of her head balanced somewhere it would inevitably fall. Himself and Dan sharing the school run and not even fighting about it any more.

The crippling sting of Charlotte’s death had eased with time and the now shared knowledge that she was simply- as Dan had put it after a lengthy chat with Amenadiel, _somewhere else_. Not gone. Not forever.

Things had calmed and wounds had healed and Daniel smiled more now. So did __he__ , come to think of it. Lucifer rested easier at night knowing that someone up there was actually on their side. Someone who, if she put her mind to it, could outsmart his git of a Father.

Even Amenadiel had laughed at that.

But now something unexpected was threatening this quiet peace that they’d laboured so hard to build.

He would rain down Hell on anyone who dared.

“Lucifer, hey,” Chloe spoke softly, rubbing the cuff of his sleeve like she always did when she was nervous. Lucifer swallowed and turned his full attention back to her. He wanted details- as many as she could give him.

“Tell me everything I need to know love,” he said and she visibly relaxed. He looked more focused after one little sentence than after an entire briefing at work and something warm eased over her chest.

“It could just be plain old paranoia,” she sighed, pushing her hair back from her face. Lucifer knew better. When Chloe had a hunch about something, nine times out of ten a lead panned out from it.

“But you know yourself better than that,” he replied simply and she nodded, her expression stormy.

“He’s good with everyone. Great even… but sometimes when he thinks no-one is looking, I’ll catch him watching Trixie from across the room and… and,” she trailed off, unable to describe the turmoil that those few brief looks had brought to her gut.

Something uneasy and prickling had raised the hairs on the back of her neck. The same feeling you’d get when you watched a lion stare down unaware prey. It chilled her bones and the moment she’d seen it, she’d been by her child’s side within seconds and hadn’t left her alone for the rest of the day. Even that night, when her mother and Harry had long gone back to their hotel, she’d hovered around Trixie’s doorway for hours more than necessary- trying to tell herself that she was just too wired up from the visit to sleep.

Lucifer watched her fearful look with something akin to rage.

A protective instinct he’d long since buried cracked through the surface of it’s grave and roared to life in his chest.

“Sweetheart,” he cooed, snapping her out of her what if daydreams and pressing a finger under her chin. “I will never, ever let anything happen to you or to Beatrice. Understand?” he said, imploring her to calm down.

Chloe’s hand came up to wrap around his wrist and she leaned into his touch, pressing a kiss to the palm of his hand.

“I know.”

That was good enough for him.

“Now, let me tell you what we’re going to do,” he said, all businesslike. A plan would hopefully make them both feel a little more grounded. As much as he hated being the sensible one, he knew that sense took a back seat with Chloe when it came to threats to her daughter. Case and point with Malcolm, all those years back. At least they could use Maze for- Oh. Bugger.

The demon was currently somewhere on the other side of nowhere and Lucifer didn't enjoy the idea of trying to track her down before she was finished doing... whatever it was she was doing.

“Mazikeen won’t be back for a few days,” he frowned. While he could call her and make the situation known, he knew that this bounty was a big one. One she couldn’t let roam about any longer. “I suppose that settles it. If it’s alright with you, __I__ will stay over tonight after dinner and every night until they leave if I have to, if it will ease your mind. How long are they staying in L.A. for?”

It took Chloe a moment to answer, seemingly overwhelmed by his sudden show of maturity.

“Until next Friday,” she managed and he nodded.

“Will Beatrice be anywhere between then and now that would make it difficult for us to watch her?”

Chloe swallowed. “School, maybe? Ever since the incident a few years ago, I’ve been wary about the school’s security… Lucifer I feel like I’m overreacting,” she sighed, scrubbing her hand over her face and groaning. “What if we’re doing all this and it’s just me being silly?”

“You,” he leaned forward, pulling her hands away from her face. “Are the best Detective I have ever seen. When you think something is amiss, it _is _.__ Now, leave the school problem to me. I might have…” he paused, musing the notion around in his head. Best not to mention it until he arrived for dinner later. “Something, that could solve the problem.”

“Something?” Chloe narrowed her eyes, even though the weight that had been bearing down on her shoulders suddenly felt much lighter. “What kind of something?”

Lucifer gave her an easy smile.

“Just trust me darling. You’ll love it.”

-

_“Well you’re just going to have to behave, aren’t you?”_

_“No, I bloody well forbid you from eating anyone… unless they threaten the Detective or her spawn. Then have at it.”_

__

Chloe opened cracked open the front door to what she thought was Lucifer having a conversation with himself. Seemingly not though.

That _something_ from earlier turned out to be a something with a tail that ‘thwapped’ from side to side with such gleeful abandon that was only matched by the beaming grin of the man next to it. A something that was definitely not covered by her lease.

“A dog!? Lucifer, no.”

The smile that she’d expected to fall the moment she resisted, surprisingly stayed right where it was and it was disconcerting enough for her to frown even harder. Lucifer had that twinkle of mischief in his eye- the same one that had led her into bed more times than she could count. The mutt of a dog snuffled and shifted excitedly at his feet, tongue lolling out while it stared up at them both with those big, curious doe eyes.

Chloe took a cautionary glance back into the apartment. Trixie was firmly planted by her grandmother’s hip, staring into a mixing bowl. That… man, that her mother had once again brought to dinner, was currently in the bathroom.

Happy with her daughter’s safety for the time being, Chloe slipped out practically unnoticed.

Lucifer still hadn’t said anything.

“Babe? Elaborate?” she said and gestured down to the dog.

“Oh! Oh yes, of course,” he said, those long clever fingers reaching down to scratch behind a soft, pointed ear. “This,” he cooed, “Is Che. I brought her along especially for Beatrice. She’ll be excellent company and,” he lowered his voice conspiratorially, “Excellent protection as well. Very highly trained by the best of the best, I’ll have you know.”

There was that gleam in his eye again and with a dawning realisation, Chloe looked down at the dog then back up at her boyfriend. Then she did it again for good measure.

“Lucifer…” she began slowly, tilting her body away from the animal next to him. “You didn’t get that dog from the pound, did you?”

He snorted as though the very insinuation was absurd.

“No, darling. I took a little detour to Hell, picked up Che and was back before you could even notice I was gone-”

__“_ Excuse me?” _

Had there not been people in her living room, Chloe was sure she would have screamed loud enough to have been heard on the West Coast because he’d done _what!?_

__

He’d bombed off to Hell without so much as even leaving a note? What if he’d been hurt? Or captured? Stuck in a Hell loop for all eternity?

__

Lucifer seemed to sense the mounting storm that was Chloe Decker’s ire because he took a quick step out of punching range, scooped up his pet and shoved Che’s big brown nose right into Chloe’s face with all the grace of Trixie showing him her latest drawing.

Chloe- with a door behind her and a panting, slobbering face in front- had nowhere to escape and was subsequently assaulted with big fat kisses from Lucifer’s newest surprise. The Devil in question was, in all honesty, simply holding on and hoping for the best at this point.

Che could either melt the Detective’s heart in the next few seconds or Lucifer would be the one ending up in the doghouse for the rest of the night.

He frowned at the mere notion.

The barrage of kisses ended and Chloe managed to crack one eye open when she was sure it was relatively safe. Those eyes stared back at her with such a sweet, endearing intensity that she found her words dying in her throat. Tentatively, Chloe’s hands came up from her sides and before Lucifer could blink- she’d dissolved into a _puddle._

Chloe seemed to entirely forget that under the disguise (which he’d conveniently yet to bring up) was one of Hell’s most vicious and unrelentingly fierce denizen’s. But perhaps that was a discussion best saved for when the love of his life wasn’t currently cooing gently at the animal in his arms.

“Do you like her?” he asked softly, braving a sentence and ducking his head to get a better look at her face. Chloe’s eyes met his, Che’s head resting between her hands before she glanced back down at the dog and heaved a sigh.

“We’re going to discuss you galavanting off to Hell later, mister. But… she’s sweet, I’ll give you that,” she pressed a kiss to the centre of Che’s head, all the while Che’s tail was swinging wildly like this was the best day of her life. “I mean, I’m a teeny tiny bit concerned about the whole _Hellhound_ thing…”

She levelled a stare at her sheepish boyfriend.

“Was hoping you might not have caught that part.”

“Oh, I caught it Morningstar,” Chloe cut him off. But any real heat seemed to have left her tone, replaced by a mild teasing. Teasing meant that he was far more likely to end up in the bedroom later tonight, rather than the couch.

The tension he’d held in his shoulder’s since he’d landed back on Earth an hour ago, eased.

He set Che back on her feet, where she stood about roughly thigh level to him, her head cocked to one side. It drew Chloe’s attention again as well as a few more scratches under the chin. Lucifer’s eyes met the dogs and he raised an eyebrow as if to ask, ‘ _enjoying yourself, I take it?’_.

Che’s tongue rolled out again, mouth hanging open in the visage of a happy grin.

“Attention whore,” he deadpanned under his breath. Che merely chuffed out a pleased breath in response. It wasn’t as though the demons were lining up downstairs to give out belly rubs and head scratches after all, Lucifer supposed.

There was far more cowering in terror at the mere mention of a hound than needless baby talk.

“So,” Chloe straightened up at long last, done for the moment with lavishing attention on Che. But Lucifer could still see the subtle twitch in her fingers that told him she was more smitten than she was letting on. He hid a pleased smile over his own excellence. “I’m guessing that this isn’t what she normally looks like?”

Lucifer hummed out a noncommittal response.

Bugger.

“Lucifer,” she warned, expression stern. “You seriously expect me to believe that all your demon dogs are Shepherd mixes with big blue eyes?”

He looked at the dog at his heels and Che looked back at him as if to say, ‘ _Don’t look at me, I know less than you do_ ,’. A Shepherd mix? He’d just plumbed for ‘random dog’. The knowledge that his most vicious creation now shared a link with his irritating little half-brother was irony at it’s finest.

Oh how hated bloody irony.

He settled for answering his beloved’s question instead of focusing on his inadvertent blunder.

“Oh you know, the usual. Burnt flesh and fur matted with blood, blah, blah, blah,” he chuckled uneasily, really not ready to get into exactly how monstrous Che had looked barely an hour ago. She wouldn’t be house pet material if he hadn’t intervened just a little bit.

But don’t get him wrong; as vicious and horrifying as she might be, out of all of his hounds… she was the one who acted most like a dog and least like a mindless killing machine.

Always trotting along after him like she did when she was a pup, nipping at his heels and getting into bother. Pushing things off of tables and putting her nose in places it definitely shouldn’t be. Eating undesirable souls and looking exceedingly guilty when he barked at her to __‘_ Bloody well spit that out, you’ve no idea where it’s been!’_.

But in the end, she was loyal to a fault and that’s what he required.

Any soft spot for the dumb mutt he might have had was neither here nor there.

Chloe opened her mouth to pry a little more but Lucifer was saved by the proverbial bell.

Or in his case, an absolutely ecstatic Beatrice Decker. Chloe had always been under the assumption that her daughter was more of a cat person. Trixie had never bothered her about getting a dog before- having avoided The Kraken like her life depended on it.

Apparently, that aversion was long gone. Either that or it only applied to yappy little Chihuahua’s.

Seconds after peeking through the gap in the doorway to see who their newest guest was, Trixie had spotted Che and was on her knees next to her before Chloe could even scold her about petting strange dogs. It probably would have had little effect anyway- seeing as Che seemed just as pleased to meet this new human as Trixie was to meet her.

“Good evening Spawn,” Lucifer said fondly, clearly pleased as punch that his idea wasn’t blowing up in his face.

“Oh, hi Lucifer,” Trixie looked up at him and the change of angle gave Che the perfect opportunity to stick her cold nose against Trixie’s neck. The girl giggled and her attention was lost again. Che wagged her tail, seemingly thrilled with the current events.

There was no backing out now.

Lucifer sent a smug grin in Chloe’s direction as Trixie talked to Che like she was a baby.

“Grandma! Come see Lucifer’s puppy!” she bellowed and not a moment later, Penelope Decker appeared in the doorway with a smile to rival Trixie’s.

“Lucifer! So wonderful to see you,” she swept forward regally, arms thrown wide open and Lucifer only just caught Chloe’s eye roll before he was engulfed in a patented Mama Decker hug. He chuckled, patting Penelope’s shoulders fondly. “I had no idea you were coming tonight,” she said, shooting Chloe an intrigued look.

Ah yes, he remembered.

As of right now, Penelope was still none the wiser about their relationship.

“Yes well, you know I can’t resist any request from your daughter,” he purred charmingly and Penelope melted as though he was just the best thing since sliced bread. If it was possible, Chloe’s eyes rolled even harder behind her mother’s back.

“Do you hear that, young lady? Isn’t he just the _sweetest_ man,” Penelope patted down Lucifer’s lapels as he preened under the attention. But then Trixie was tugging eagerly on Penelope’s sleeve and she turned towards her- giving Lucifer an uninterrupted view of his unamused girlfriend.

He flashed a filthy smile at her, tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek and revelled in the pink that flooded her face.

Just from the way she subtly shifted, Lucifer could tell that she was reminiscing about just how sweet he could be. He waggled his eyebrows at her and she almost cracked, biting down hard on her lip to stop herself laughing.

_Jerk,_ she mouthed- but she was smiling when she said it.

“And who is this?” Penelope asked, breaking both of them from their staring match. She knelt down and ran her perfectly manicured nails through Che’s soft fur. “Oh, she’s just adorable,” she gushed, smoothing over the lines of Che’s nose and cheeks with a gentle touch that only a mother could give.

Another point was won in his favour.

Lucifer winked at Chloe and much to his delight, she stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

“This is Che.”

Trixie seemed intent on carrying out a full scale conversation with Che as though the dog could talk back. Lucifer didn’t think Chloe would appreciate the fact that she sort of could. To him, anyway, through some strange bond he’d accidentally created when he’d breathed life into her. Perhaps a detail for another day.

But all that aside, at least two of the Decker women were openly enamoured with her and one was just suppressing it in a futile attempt to prove him wrong. Lucifer eyed her when she wasn’t looking, because that stubbornness was one of the sexiest things about her.

Still, after a moment, she caved again and let Che nuzzle against her hand for more scratches.

It was the eyes, he thought out of nowhere. His hounds were frighteningly intelligent creatures- more intelligent than most of his other demons. Despite their horrific appearance they could still inexplicably draw you in, pull you close with those deceptive, innocent gazes.

Close enough, at least, to wrap their mouth around your neck and snap it.

The peacefulness of the moment was broken though, by the very reason Che was there in the first place.

Lucifer’s spine stiffened as an unfamiliar middle aged man stepped out into the light of the porch. He was handsome- well, he would have to be to turn the head of Penelope Decker after all. A light salt and pepper scruff adorned his chin and an immaculate shirt and pant’s combination hid a surprisingly well built frame.

He had an easy smile and his eyes crinkled when he flashed it in Lucifer’s direction. But the Devil wasn’t swayed in the least. Chloe’s posture had changed from ‘irritated at her idiot boyfriend’ to ‘cop’ and that was more than enough to get Lucifer’s back up.

Danger, his instinct’s screamed.

But the world didn’t burn and the sky didn’t fall when Harry Fisher extended his hand for Lucifer to take.

“Hey pal, nice to meet you!” he said pleasantly.

“Lucifer Morningstar, at your service. __You__ must be Harry,” Lucifer voice was polite but less than enthused, shaking his hand with a firmness that was entirely unnecessary. Harry pulled his hand away a little too quickly, flexing his fingers with a smile that was now a little more pained. “An absolute _pleasure_ to meet you.”

“Heh, likewise,” Harry chuckled, still shaking his hand a little bit where it had dropped to his side. “Hey, who’s this?” he seemed more than pleased to have a distraction from the chilly greeting as he squatted down close to Trixie and almost eye level to Che.

“This is Lucifer’s dog, Che,” Trixie explained excitedly. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Gorgeous,” Harry replied warmly, patting Che’s head alongside the child. “Isn’t she somethin’ Penny?” he smiled, glancing over the top of Trixie’s head at Chloe’s mother. His little finger brushed against Trixie’s in a motion that would have been utterly lost to anyone else but Lucifer was like a fucking hawk when it came to the people he loved and Chloe’s terrified eyes met his behind the little crowd on the porch.

They conveyed a range of emotions all at once. Fear. Concern. Relief that she wasn’t alone in her rising paranoia anymore.

Che grunted unhappily all of a sudden, ducking away from Harry with a snort and squeezing herself inexplicably between the little girl on one side and the grown man on the other. She almost knocked Harry onto his ass with the force she used and he regained his balance with a laugh.

“Eager, isn’t she?”

_Eager and smarter than you_ , Lucifer thought, proud of Che’s natural intuition. She’d been the perfect choice.

Across from Lucifer and his musings, Chloe looked down at Che and to her surprise, Che stared back with an equal, fervent intensity.

Was this her destiny? Constantly damned to have an undeniable soft spot for things that came from Hell?

Her lot in life could be a lot worse, she decided firmly.

“Trix, this isn’t Lucifer’s dog,” Chloe announced abruptly, all doubt gone from her mind with that one simple action. Everyone turned their heads to look at her and a gentle smile spread over her face because with the Devil and his hound in their house, she felt better than she had all week.

“She’s not?”

“No, baby. He got her for _you_.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff and a teaser to some smut and a plot advancement all in the same chapter! Who'd a thunk it?

****Chapter 2** **

When her mother and Harry were long gone and Trixie was curled up in her bed with Che on the floor beside her- Chloe wandered back into the kitchen where Lucifer was finishing the dishes. She crept up behind him, winding her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek warmly between his shoulders.

She inhaled deeply, swallowing an appreciative moan. He always smelled so good. Masculine but not overwhelmingly so.

Lucifer hummed a pleased sound at the sudden contact, glancing back to see only the top of her head. She was wearing her hair down tonight and it stoked the constant flame of desire in his stomach. Chloe nuzzled closer, pressing a kiss to one shoulder blade- just above the unfamiliar joint of his hidden wing.

“Feeling a little better, I take it?”

“You,” she said softly, planting another kiss to the white of his shirt. “Were incredible. Thank you for indulging me tonight." 

"I don't follow," he said, his thumb ghosting across the back of her hand.

"I guess... I've had a lot of years of people thinking I'm overreacting, like with Palmetto and Malcolm. A _lot_ of years," she sighed and his expression dropped when he remembered the jibes and constant put downs of her colleagues. What it did to her even though she tried to hide it. The hurt and tears and the loneliness- up until she'd met him of course. "It's nice to have someone believe me for a change. Take me seriously- even if I sound crazy."

She didn’t see his brow furrow but she felt the subtle shift of the muscles in his back as they stiffened a bit.

“Chloe,” he said sternly, twisting in her embrace to meet her eye. She rested her chin on his chest, not ready to move away from the heat of his body just yet. “I don’t trust him either and I certainly wouldn’t leave him alone with the urchin, no matter how well Mazikeen has trained her. You are not _crazy_ for worrying about your child,” he said, and the tone of his voice left no room for an argument.

She didn’t know why, but tears were suddenly pricking the corners of her eyes.

Maybe it was Lucifer seeing what she had seen tonight and having her back as always. Or maybe it was because no matter what, Lucifer always believed her even when she hardly believed herself. She wasn't spouting the mad ramblings of an overprotective mother. Not to him. 

“Don’t cry love,” he murmured lowly, comfortingly and that’s what did it.

All these years and it was this that brought on the realisation? Or well... at least the bravery to _admit_ it to herself.

Him in all of his lanky, awkward glory- doing the dishes in her kitchen with his sleeves rolled up and his waistcoat unbuttoned. Him, the man who had dropped everything because she’d had a bad feeling, had gone to Hell and corralled a pet for her daughter, one who would protect her with her life. The man who loved her at her worst and worshipped her at her best. How on earth had she not realised this before?

“I love you,” she said, suddenly.

Lucifer pulled back and blinked owlishly, looking like he didn’t quite understand. She couldn’t blame him. It was one Hell of a one-eighty. 

“What was that?” he asked, his voice soft and hopeful. She didn’t know why they were whispering. Trixie slept like the dead and they were, for all intents and purposes, alone in the gentle glow of the kitchen lights. 

She raised her hand up, trailing her thumb along the sharp line of his jaw before brushing a wide stroke over his cheek.

“I _love_ you,” she repeated, more assuredly this time because he was looking at her like she’d absolutely lost her mind.

“Are you quite sure about that darling?”

He looked like a deer in headlights and Chloe couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled to the surface. She didn't think he would appreciate her laughing at a time like this, so she chose to muffle it against his chest instead of letting it break the tension. After all this time, loving him was the only thing she really could be sure about any more. Now she really thought about it, she'd loved him for what felt like forever. Since she'd kissed him on the beach.

“Yes.”

_“Oh._ ”

Their staring match turned intense all of a sudden and something unnamed coiled tightly in the pit of Chloe’s stomach.

Her lips parted and her tongue swept over them and Lucifer’s eyes followed the movement.

Without warning, the dam broke.

His breath left him all in one go and he crushed her to him in a bear hug. Words upon words were suddenly spilling from his mouth and he buried his face against her neck, laying kisses between every sound he made. His hands were damp from the water but he pressed her as close as he could anyway- not caring if they soaked through the thin material of her blouse. She didn't particularly mind either, blown away by the sudden reaction to such simple words. Although... she couldn't help but feel they weren't simple to him. 

Whatever he was speaking in wasn’t English or any language that was or ever had been, spoken by humans. He continued talking and his words were like water and the waves breaking on the rocks. It was like they echoed in her head, shaking her to the very core in their inconceivability. 

And his _voice_ …

His voice was unlike anything she’d ever heard. There was a distant something that sounded like him, some twisted imitation of his proper English accent. But it was warped and drowned out underneath the deep, untamed devotion that was spilling out of him and she wished more than anything she could understand what he was saying.

Or even grasp the enormity of his words.

He sounded every bit the angel he proclaimed he wasn’t.

Chloe felt a shiver of arousal rise between her legs. His lips trailed up, across her throat and her head fell back to give him better access. She gasped when he bit down on her earlobe, tugging it with his teeth roughly and without thinking, she bucked her hips against his.

One hand threaded through his hair to hold his head where it was and the other crept between the joints of his wings.

He shuddered in delight.

Everything he felt, everything he loved about her was pouring out of him unbidden and he couldn’t stop himself- even if she had no idea what he was saying. But right now in this moment, he would speak to her in a language he hadn’t spoken in eons. Even if, in his opinion, it still fell short of the weight he wanted to put behind his words. But it was all he had to offer.

He would translate all of this for her when he’d come back to a more stable state of mind.

But for now, he captured her mouth in a kiss that was almost pornographic and that left her breathlessly impatient for his lips to be on other parts of her body. His palms slid to her waist and he lifted her into his arms, her long toned legs folding around his hips like she belonged there.

“Love you,” she sighed hotly into his mouth and his heart stopped for a moment in his chest, before continuing with it’s ever steady rhythm. “ _So much_.”

He repeated the words back to her with ardent fervour in that beautiful, fierce, impossible tongue.

Somewhere in the distance, over the vastness of the ocean, thunder rolled in response to a language long forgotten.

Lucifer carried her towards the stairs and Chloe’s body moulded against his own- his erection eagerly pressing against the front of his slacks. He whispered sweet nothings to her as he climbed the stairs and continued even as he crawled over her in the centre of her bed. One hand gripped her waist and then her hip and he tugged her against him to provide that delicious friction they were both missing.

“Lucifer,” she sighed and kissed his throat, tugging impatiently at his shirt and yanking him closer with her legs.

He made an almost pathetic noise in response.

“ _Chloe_ ,” he said and somehow it was sweeter than all the words that had come before.

-

Downstairs, Che’s ears flattened to her head and she grunted- disturbed from her sleep by her master’s native language. It raised the fur on the back of her neck and set her teeth on edge. Hell forged beings were _not_ the biggest fans of the language of Angels.

It would always set something violently primal off in the lesser demons. Whipped them into a frenzy that lent them to slaughter anything in sight and on occasion, when he was particularly bored, Lucifer would speak like that and watch the rabble tear each other apart.

Che was not a lesser demon. It might make her uncomfortable yes... but it didn't rouse some single minded urge to kill, thankfully.

From above, her excellent hearing picked up the muffled sounds of her master and his human in the throes of their lovemaking. They sounded almost frantic, desperate even. 

Che spared a glance at the child, sound asleep on the bed next to her. It was a good thing this little one was such a heavy sleeper.

The child had waited for a moment after her mother had closed the bedroom door earlier, before she’d promptly sat up in bed and patted the end. Che had gingerly climbed up from where she’d settled on the floor and she'd seemed satisfied by that. There had been scratches behind the ear and then Trixie had planted a kiss ‘goodnight’ on the end of her nose and cuddled back under the covers- unaware of the curiosity Che had looked at her with.

She’d kissed a hound of Hell with little more than batting an eyelid. Che was beginning to see why Lucifer liked this little pack so much.

She had sensed no notion of harm while being petted upon by the women earlier. Perhaps a little wariness from Lucifer’s lover at first but it had quickly vanished.

The male however… He wasn’t an alpha, that much was sure. Her master’s domineering introduction had made that quite clear. Yet, something sinister lurked underneath the surface of his smiling facade- the tainted smell of a soul that wasn’t quite right. 

Che rested her head back down on her paws with a soft sigh.

Humans were a confusing crowd.

Her master seemed particularly fond of these ones though and that in itself was enough for her to go along with whatever plan he had in mind.

Although… fond might not be strong enough a word considering the heated, frenzied noises coming from upstairs- almost nearing a fever pitch now and the Enochian words of worship she’d been privy to earlier.

She doubted the human female was aware of just how powerful words like that were.

They were of prayer and of adoration beyond comprehension. Hated in Hell but revered in Heaven. Words like that could bring down empires.

Che knew that Lucifer had never said anything like it before, at least not in _her_ presence. Maybe in Heaven, where he’d grown up as a child but never in Hell. Earth was strikingly different though. Emotions were in abundance and nowhere near as muted as they were from behind solid cell doors and it was... disorientating at first. 

She’d only been on this plane of existence for a few hours but she was already feeling a tug of protection towards the girl and her mother.

In Hell, it was often discussed why Lucifer had left and when he was coming back. Rebellions were muttered about by those less loyal and subsequently crushed by herself, her brothers and her sisters. The hounds and the smarter demons kept order now, waiting for Lucifer’s return.

But if this was why… This family. She could see why he'd been gone for so long.

Trixie shifted in bed, snorting a little in her sleep and Che huffed what passed for a laugh. At least the humans were amusing. Especially this one. The child had laid constant affection on her earlier that evening- and the scraps that had been fed to her under the table had endeared her to Che that little bit more.

Their souls both bled light and it was at times, hard to look at them. Che had no trouble seeing what her master saw in them.

Her muscles were relaxing again now, back into some semblance of rest as the noises upstairs settled into quiet shared laughter and conversation.

Her eyelids grew heavy and her breathing slowed, matching the little girl at her side when-

_CHHK!_

Che’s eyes snapped open immediately, pupils dilating wide but her body still- the only movement the steady rise and fall of her breathing.

After a drawn out moment of silence, she subtly shifted her ears back towards the window. The curtains were drawn but not all the way, just enough for the moonlight to cut a sharp sliver across the floor at the foot of the bed.

Her eyes went to it in search of a shadow falling, but none came.

She steadied her breathing even more.

The noise might have been no more than a twig snapping somewhere outside the window but she was made in _Hell._

Her senses were a hundred that of a normal dog and her intuition even more. So call her paranoid… but she determined that even in the sudden silence, it was worth a look anyway. If nothing else it would gain her some more favour with her Master if she was thorough.

But before she could rise to her feet, the light on the floor grew dimmer and Che paused.

Someone was lurking outside the child’s window and a thousand years worth of instinct burned in Che’s chest like fire.

The rumble of protectiveness that rose in her throat stayed low enough that it wouldn’t wake the young girl but firm enough that she could feel it in every fibre of her glamour. The shadow moved again and Che’s sharp eyes went to the opposite wall, where a picture frame caught the light and showed a near perfect reflection of the window behind.

And of the masked face pressed against it.

Che resisted the powerful urge to raise her hackles and bare her teeth. She’d been down in Hell long enough to know why people lurked outside windows at night. Why people stared at children the way this one did. Something angry itched inside her gut- begging to be released. Beside her, Trixie turned onto her side and squeezed the stuffed animal in her arms closer.

The very picture of innocence.

The figure outside wished harm and Che could sense it from here. Desire and want rolled off of it in _waves_ and it left a horrid, bitter taste in the air that Che could feel in her lungs. It tasted like ash. This one was definitely destined for her homestead, it seemed.

The soul was already rotten.

The smell was so reminiscent of her hunting grounds in Hell that it drove her heart into a frenzy, pounding hard in her chest.

But still Che didn’t move for fear of disturbing her sleeping ward. She’d been given explicit orders not to eat anyone without permission. To attack only if the child’s life was threatened. So as much as it pained her to sit still and observe, it would make for better game in the long run.

There were rules up here about killing humans that didn’t apply down below.

Were it Hell she would have already ripped his throat out and that would have been that. But her Master had told her that the glamour was to stay in place unless particularly exceptional circumstances called for her to drop it.

She was here as a deterrent and as a guardian until Lucifer pointed her in a direction and made that wonderful sound that told her it was dinner time.

So Che watched the watcher.

And waited.

His time would come, she thought wickedly. And she would be there when it did.

She stared intently at the reflection of the window long after the figure was gone and well into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, someone's creepin' when they're sleepin' and Che isn't happy about it- not one bit. Also forgive my absolute indulgence when it came to Chloe and Lucifer but a Deckerstar fic needs Deckerstar so....


	3. Chapter 3 (Interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plot!? In MY story!? There will be no such thing! 
> 
> Have a fluffy morning interlude instead- in which Chloe reflects on how much she trusts the Devil.

****Chapter Three** **

Lucifer awoke early the next morning to his favourite sight.

Chloe Decker sprawled inelegantly across his bare chest- her cheek pressed against him and her hair splayed across her naked back. It caught the pale morning sunlight and shone like gold and he swept it over her shoulders gently, bunching it to one side so he could trace lazy circles on her skin.

The night had been quiet save for himself and Chloe disturbing the peace early on but he would check in with Che later anyway, just in case anything had been amiss. Downstairs, he could hear the animated, too-happy tunes of Saturday morning cartoons and surmised that the urchin was up and most likely on her second bowl of not-so-secret sugar filled cereal. His attempts to hide it out of her reach had been thwarted and short of getting a wall safe, there was no keeping her grubby mitts off of it.

He stared at the ceiling for a while, enjoying the heat of Chloe in his arms and contemplating their current situation.

Dinner the night before had been interesting, if nothing else.

Penelope was, as usual, enchanted by his company and he got the feeling that Harry had been suitably put in his place. Perhaps it had annoyed him that he was no longer the most discussed man in the room, or maybe it was the sudden intrusion of someone who exuded an air of danger- but Harry had kept his distance after the first meeting and for the rest of the evening.

The news that Lucifer and Chloe were now an official item had Penelope swooning with absolute delight. She'd shrieked and planted a kiss hard on his cheek and then admonished her daughter playfully about taking so long ' _snapping him up_ '. Even though she'd rolled her eyes, he could tell that Chloe was glad they’d told her in person- if for nothing but the fact that she’d gotten to witness her mother react in the exact same way that Beatrice had when _she’d_ found out.

Although, he'd almost choked on his steak when Penelope had mentioned weddings and grandchildren and all sorts of other things not ten minutes later and Chloe looked as though she was going to launch herself over the table to make her stop talking.

A far removed man from the happy one who had greeted him early in the night, Harry had sulked in silence at the other end of the table during the whole conversation. But his quiet presence hadn't stopped Lucifer watching him with sharp eyes for the rest of their visit.

Harry's gaze had strayed towards Beatrice only once more that night and Lucifer had almost snapped his fork in half because that was _not_ the way a grown man should watch a _child _.__

Harry’s tongue had darted out, whetting his bottom lip as he looked at Trixie- who at the time, was spouting some faucet of adorable nonsense to her grandmother, all animated and happy. Something ancient and horrible threatened to rear it’s ugly head inside his chest and the feeling had been so powerful that Lucifer had struggled to hold it back.

But then Che had been by Trixie's side and had barked so suddenly and deeply- a bark that belied her current size and appearance that everyone bar Lucifer had jumped in surprise. It had been enough time to blink his eyes back to brown before they’d all shared a laugh- albeit a nervous one on Harry’s part.

Che had stared at Harry like she was looking into his soul and even though he'd petted her with no issue earlier, Harry seemed to try his best to stay away from the dog. Lucifer knew her senses would have been muddled by the trip topside and the sudden onslaught of everything _human _.__ He didn’t expect that she was feeling quite herself.

In spite of that though, she’d still cut an intimidating figure. Sitting rigidly beside Trixie's chair and then right on her heels when they'd all moved to the living room.

Harry hadn’t looked anywhere but his own shoes for the remainder of the visit.

Lucifer was brought out of his thoughts when Chloe moved in his embrace- squirming lightly under the thrall of a dream that was seemingly bothering her.

She moaned out something unintelligible and Lucifer chuckled lowly, ghosting his fingertips along the curve of her spine in a soothing motion.

After a few moments, the nightmare had been dispelled and she settled, nuzzling deeper against him. That was _another_ thing. She loved him. Despite the lyrical poetry he’d been waxing the night before in his native language (he still had no idea what had come over him at the time- it was mortifying really), all he’d really been dying to ask was, _what the fuck?_

This beautiful, wonderful creature that lay bare in his arms had looked upon him at his worst, his most broken and had deemed him worthy all the same.

Once again, he asked.

What. The. _Fuck?_

He pressed a long kiss to the top of her head. Deep down, yes, he was terrified. Absolutely shaken to the core by such a simple revelation.

The fear that this could all be ripped away at any moment. That in the end it was all one big cosmic joke, was constantly in the back of his mind and now those fears had been made all the more stark by their shared confession of love. Still. Not even his worries could ruin what had been the best night of his life.

They’d lain in the afterglow of fantastic sex and he’d kissed his way along the inside of her thigh, coming to rest his head on her belly- and he’d whispered the words back so softly to her that one might have thought he was almost afraid of what would happen if he did.

But the only thing that had happened was that Chloe had smiled that million-watt smile that still took his breath away and had gone back to playing with the untamed curls she’d managed to set loose on his head.

A wave of contentment washed over him.

“Are you humming… or purring?” Chloe asked out of nowhere, her voice still rough from sleep. She rested her chin on his chest, eyes heavy, but she was smiling all the same. Lucifer looked surprised. He hadn’t even realised that he’d been making a low, soft rumbling sound under his breath. Father help him, he really needed to get a grip.

“The Devil doesn’t purr,” he refuted, and the noise cut off abruptly.

Chloe snorted.

“What?”

“Are you sure about that? Because I was going to say that it really turns me on. But if the big bad Devil doesn’t purr…” she said, jutting her bottom lip out as if to say nothing could be done about it now. Lucifer couldn’t stop the warm laugh from bubbling up and it was out of his mouth before he could think twice about making too much noise.

The background sound of cartoons paused downstairs and his laugh caught in his throat as he realised his mistake.

“Oh bollocks, me and my big mouth,” he groaned, pressing his head back into the pillow while Chloe could only laugh against him. “Quickly, hide me in the cupboard.”

“Nuh-uh. You brought this on yourself,” she said teasingly. She kissed his chin and then his mouth, nipping his full lower lip and to his delight, her hand slid down and across the hard plain of his abs. Then lower until she was tracing the line of his underwear.

Lucifer raised his eyebrows at her.

“ _Detective,_ ” he beamed, glancing at the door. “Are you sure we have time for that?” Not that he was complaining at _all._

__

Chloe didn’t reply but her tongue swiped over her bottom lip and her eyes went to his mouth. Lucifer could only exhale shakily. Father help him she was like all of his wet dreams come true at the same time. His throat bobbed and she planted a kiss on it while her hand dipped again, fingers tracing under the fabric just a little.

Lucifer let his eyes flicker closed in preparation for what would be a stellar morning handjob when-

Chloe snapped the band of his boxer-briefs- _hard_. Lucifer yelped in surprise and threw her a horrified, betrayed look while she laughed.

“Just checking you’re decent.”

“You bloody minx,” he harrumphed as she slid off of him, still grinning at her own cleverness. She ducked under the comforter to no doubt find his shirt from the night before for something easy to slip on while Lucifer mourned the loss of her hand so close to his cock.

He really, really needed to stop falling for that.

They heard the clatter of a bowl hitting the sink at an alarming speed and then eager footsteps pounded on the bottom stairs. Lucifer knew that it was now too late to move. Best to just lie there and accept his woeful fate.

Chloe emerged from underneath the comforter, buttoning his dress shirt and she pushed his head to the side lightly when he waggled his eyebrows at her. There wasn’t enough time to even _think_ about taking it off of her, let alone actually doing it. He groaned petulantly- done out of morning sex and not happy about it at all.

“I’ll make it up to you tonight,” Chloe said placatingly, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. Lucifer’s pout lessened just a bit. Just like him, Chloe always kept good on her word.

His thoughts turned back to his impending doom instead- coming at a steady rate up the stairs with Che in tow no doubt.

“Are you certain she’s advancing properly for her age?” he asked, tucking one arm behind his head and very much enjoying the way Chloe’s eyes trailed over him. “Surely she should have learned to knock by now,” Lucifer said pointedly, as the footsteps drew nearer.

The lust in Chloe’s eyes changed into a look that told him he was being terribly dense.

“I wonder who on earth she could have gotten it from?”

Ah. Yes. He couldn’t argue about it if he’d been the one to disregard the rules in the first place. Well. Mazikeen was partly to blame but that probably wouldn’t save him now.

“Touchè, darling,” he muttered, resigned. Both he and Chloe had learned the importance of wearing underwear to bed when it became abundantly clear that Beatrice Decker would always just-

The door swung open and before he could even finish his train of thought, Lucifer was assaulted by an armful of Trixie.

_-barge in._

Unfortunately for most of the items on Chloe’s nightstands, Trixie’s early morning leap of faith onto the bed also happened to dig her little knee directly into Lucifer’s gut. Very much vulnerable with Chloe only two feet away, he didn’t deal with the sudden pain very well. He let out a surprised grunt, and with a _‘whoosh’_ , his wings filled the room.

Chloe’s alarm clock hit the opposite wall with a hard crash and two picture frames were promptly lost forever.

Trixie wasn’t phased in the least by the impromptu display of grace.

Lucifer was winded and barely noticed.

Chloe was _more_ than used to this happening because it happened nearly every Saturday morning that Lucifer stayed over. If it wasn’t Trixie landing on him with the force of a bull making his wings pop out then it was Chloe the night before- doing far more adult activities. For an age old angel he had surprisingly little control over his wings sometimes. He insisted that they had minds of their own and did as they pleased and sometimes Chloe wondered if that was just an excuse to save face. 

She’d usually have cleared the nightstands just in case but they’d been far too preoccupied last night to even think about it.

“Bloody Hell,” Lucifer said, Trixie still sitting firmly on his stomach and beaming from ear to ear with the sort of energy only a child could muster this early in the morning. The fact that Lucifer had gotten her a dog had only increased her daughter’s affection for him tenfold. Chloe had never seen anything like it. If Trixie hadn’t been looking at Che with adoration the night before, then she was staring at Lucifer like he’d hung the moon and stars-

Oh wait. He did.

“Morning Lucifer!”

“Good morning urchin,” Lucifer half-wheezed.

“Your wings are out,” she said astutely, pointing to them as though it wasn’t already crystal clear what was happening. Her delight at having made him perform what was swiftly becoming his bloody party trick was obvious.

Lucifer slumped back into the mattress defeated and he just caught Chloe’s devious grin out of the corner of his eye. He was very, very outnumbered it seemed. Help was not coming. He was doomed.

“I’m well aware,” he answered, his tone dry.

Trixie carded her fingers through some of the softer feathers closer to his arm and the wing twitched under her touch, seemingly enjoying it. It didn’t escape his notice and he wondered briefly how his own divinity could betray him in such a way. He sighed and resigned himself to being petted like any good trained Devil would. 

Trixie didn’t seem content with being silent though.

“Does mom ever make your wings pop out?”

A thousand thoughts raced through his head, not a single one of them appropriate for a child’s ears and Lucifer smirked in Chloe’s direction, very much enjoying the pretty shade of pink her cheeks were going. In turn, she shot him a warning look that Lucifer decided to heed.

“Not by kneeing me in the stomach, no,” he hedged with a smirk.

“How then?” Trixie asked, still poking one wing like it was going to do a trick but no less focused on his answer. Eyes wide, Lucifer seemed at a loss for words for a change. He didn't tell lies- not even to nosy children. But he sincerely doubted that Chloe would deem it right to mention that she achieved the same effect by doing that thing with her tongue that made him go cross eyed. Not the sort of early morning story fit for anyone under the age of eighteen.

"Uhm..." he choked out, apparently woefully unprepared for questions like this.

Chloe tongued the inside of her cheek and watched him fumble for an answer that she wouldn’t strangle him for, holding back a smile.

There was something oddly soothing about watching him interact with her daughter.

The way she felt from the day before with Harry to how she felt now with Lucifer- the actual Devil, was glaringly different. It warmed her to realise just how much she could trust Lucifer around her little girl. Even at the beginning of their partnership, she’d never, ever had a problem leaving them alone together.

Lucifer had come across as many things all those years ago. Haughty, arrogant, self absorbed. But never a creep. She supposed that it spoke volumes about how much she’d trusted him- even then.

Trixie had always been the deal breaker for their relationship. For _any_ relationship she had. But when they’d started dating, he’d given her his word that he would try. As always, Lucifer took his word very seriously. He’d put in the effort with barely any prompting on her part. He asked questions. Braided hair. Watched cartoons and snuck chocolate cake together. Before she knew it, he was the person that Trixie turned to when she had a problem with school or some pressing existential question that all children had at some point or another- and Lucifer seemed to revel in it.

Secretly, of course.

Now here he was, fielding yet another uncomfortable question and being sat on and poked and prodded with only superficial complaints to show for it.

It was no wonder she’d fallen in love with him.

Deciding that he’d suffered enough and that having him hastily explain wing anatomy to her daughter wasn’t fun _at all_ , Chloe leaned forward conspiratorially and tapped Trixie’s shoulder. She turned to her mother and leaned back, grinning. Lucifer’s eyes narrowed at them both but Chloe avoided his gaze and he suddenly felt like he was in a lot of danger.

She motioned for Trixie to come closer and then stage whispered.

_“I tickle him.”_

Trixie and Lucifer both went wide eyed, for _very_ different reasons. As both Decker women rounded on him, he felt a surge of dread. He was the Lord of Hell. A king that reigned supreme over his subjects. He would not be subjected to such _humiliation._

“Don’t you _dare_. I'll sue, Detective! I swear to Dad!"

But he had about as much power over them as a wet paper bag and they descended on him with glee. He was ashamed of the state he was in- him. The second most powerful being in creation brought low by simple humans in a dastardly sneak attack! Almost blue in the face from laughing and trying to defend what little of his dignity he had left, Lucifer valiantly fought off his attackers by simply lying there and laughing.

Trixie went for his sides but it was Chloe who knew him from head to toe and who knew _exactly_ where to touch the Devil to make him buck and thrash wildly like he wasn't in control of his limbs. His voice cracked when she snuck her hand against the back of his thigh, determined to make him suffer for reasons unknown.

Eventually though, Lucifer decided that he'd suffered quite enough and he hefted Trixie into the air with one hand and Chloe with the other- leaving them both suspended and giggling and red-faced. He wasn't doing much better, looking utterly dishevelled.

“You’re both absolutely insufferable,” he said primly. Trixie chortled, enjoying being lifted like she weighed absolutely nothing and she stuck her arms out to imitate a plane. Chloe patted his bicep though, signalling that she would behave and it was somewhat safe to put her down. Granted, he'd made that mistake before and paid for it. Lucifer let her down slowly but side eyed her suspiciously all the same, even when she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

After a long moment, when he thought it was safe and she was quite finished being a fighter jet, he let Trixie down as well and she reclaimed her seat on his stomach- elbows firmly planted on him once again and her chin in her hands.

“Bloody cheaters,” he groused, hair and feathers a mess.

“Stop pretending you hate it,” Chloe muttered slyly, rolling into his side and he couldn’t even fake it any more as the smile slid lazily onto his face.

"I was once the King of Hell. Feared. Reviled. A monument to power," he lamented sadly, shaking his head and heaving a very long sigh. His wings sagged, suddenly appearing just as melancholy as their owner. Trixie cut him off, tutting and rolling her eyes. 

"Please, you big baby," she scoffed. "You _hated_ running Hel- Ah!"

Lucifer quickly smothered her with one wing- only her legs poking out and her very muffled protests to be heard. Chloe snorted, laughing against his shoulder. 

"Silence pathetic wretch, your King is speaking," he cackled as Trixie's voice struggled to be heard beneath the thick down of his wing. He grinned wickedly. Revenge _was_ sweet after all. Chloe's punishment for their little stunt would have to wait until later but he had the perfect thing in mind. On the other hand, Beatrice was available to suffer right now. All he could hear from her winged prison was a garbled ' _jerk face'_ and _'don't fight fair!'._

The bed dipped suddenly behind Chloe and it signalled the arrival of Che, who’s head appeared over Chloe’s shoulder. 

"Ah, it appears there's someone here to rescue you, urchin," Lucifer lazily informed her, his wing lifting abruptly in a flurry of loose feathers from Trixie's struggling. She was red faced and covered in down and looking a little dazed from lack of oxygen (oops) but none the worse for wear having just been smothered by the Devil.

"Che! My hero!" Trixie said dramatically, shifting to accept a tentative kiss from the hound.

Chloe looked like she was about to argue about Che being on their bed but the way Trixie’s face lit up when she saw her had Chloe’s admonishment dying in her throat. Lucifer smirked as Che climbed over them all and dropped herself unceremoniously in the middle of the pile. Leaning down, his breath tickled Chloe’s ear as he nuzzled her.

“Stop pretending you hate it,” he parroted smugly. Chloe groaned and burrowed herself deeper against his side- ignoring how nice the weight and warmth of Che was as the dog stretched over them all, panting happily.

“Jerk.”

"Agreed," Trixie said, narrowing her eyes at Lucifer. He simply smiled back, revenge enacted and enjoyed.

Che ducked her head and snuffled against Trixie’s ear and one arm was thrown over the dog’s neck as the girl cuddled up to her pet and the attempted suffocation forgotten about. All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning, Lucifer decided to himself and if Che overheard his saccharine thoughts, she didn’t think a word in reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot will advance in the next chapter! Che tells Lucifer what happened in the night and he ain't a happy boy about it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Che sniffs around and doesn't like what she finds and Lucifer worries about the safety of his family.
> 
> -
> 
> Slight warning for disturbing themes? What Che find's isn't nice folks.

It wasn’t until after breakfast that Lucifer got a moment to himself with Che. Chloe had herded Trixie into the bathroom to get washed after they'd all managed to drag themselves from bed. He listened for a moment to make sure they were both preoccupied, before whistling for the hound.

She appeared from wherever she’d been lounging almost instantly and Lucifer felt a sudden wave of familiarity. It was a strange sight to him- seeing her looking like a normal dog instead of some six foot something monstrosity. He wondered for a moment what it must feel like to have all of your very large imposing self stuffed into a medium sized dog shape.

Sure, Maze had a glamour too but it was nowhere near as extensive as Che’s was.

She seemed happy enough though. Her tail hadn’t stopped swishing from side to side all morning and he warmed at the feeling that she hadn't changed a bit. Normally, he wouldn’t even ask because he was still Lord and Master of Hell and the opinions of his demons had never really mattered much to him. He didn't need their approval for anything, nor did he seek it out. Maze was the only council he’d ever listened to or needed.

All the same, he asked, “So. What do you think?”

He looked in the direction of the bathroom, to the sound of Trixie laughing and water splashing.

Che turned in the same direction, cocking her head to the side with an almost pensive look on her face.

_I can see why you left Hell, my Lord. I would have. Family suits you. You look happier here than you ever did down there._

He couldn’t help the smile that worked it’s way onto his face but he _did_ try his best to hide it in his coffee mug. He’d never admit it, but he’d missed the astute observations that Che was famous for. Or infamous. He couldn't decide which. 

“So, was there any trouble last night?” he asked, laying a hand between Che’s ears and rubbing his thumb in a circle. Che leaned into the touch eagerly, nuzzling for the affection like she'd missed it terribly- not that she would ever admit it in a million years. Stubborn thing.

Honestly, he didn’t really expect her to say yes.

Sure, he _was_ suitably wary of Harry but the other man had seemed to get the poorly hidden message that Lucifer had put across the night before. Subtlety had never been his strong point after all. He'd been sure that he was intimidating enough to deter any more thoughts of the Decker family from crossing Fisher's mind.

So surprise and an all encompassing anger fought a battle for his expression when Che responded with-

_Not trouble, per se... There was a man during the night, my Lord._

Lucifer almost choked on his coffee.

_He was spying through the girls window. His soul smelled off. Rotten._

__

“How long was he there for!? What did he do?” Lucifer demanded. He slid off of the stool and dropped to his knees, almost eye level to Che. She backed up a bit, straightening her back and drawing herself to what was currently her full height. Like she was giving a report to her General. 

_Fifteen minutes? Perhaps twenty at a stretch but I didn't time it. He didn't do much more than stare inside and press his face to the glass once or twice. I would have pursued but you commanded me to stay with the girl, so I did._

__

That last part was almost voiced as a question and he could sense Che’s internal conflict from where he was sitting. She must have been itching to run down a soul like that in spite of his earlier orders. It had always been in her nature to defy him, even when she was just a pup and she got into places that had him absolutely baffled. While the older hounds had stayed put, she would wander off on her own and explore- more often than not ending up following him or Maze around. It had always been that way and for some reason that he couldn't quite place, Lucifer had never punished her for it.

Any other demon would have been strung up for such disobedience. But not Che.

Maybe he had a soft spot for her. Or maybe he was just amused by the fact that she was so ridiculously obstinate- just like he had always been.

This time though, he was _glad_ she’d followed orders for a change.

Cold washed over him and he slumped back against the kitchen island with a long sigh. His mind was racing. This could _not_ be a coincidence. First Chloe suspects something sinister underneath Harry’s polite demeanour and then within the same few days of his visit there's a lurker outside of Beatrice’s window? Bollocks to coincidence. He was beginning to suspect there was no such thing at all.

After the absolute debacle of the last few months, Lucifer now more than ever, desired to keep his family safe. It was always in the back of his mind now, no matter the time of day. If it wasn’t Chloe constantly in the line of danger at work, then he was worrying about Beatrice on a school trip or out at a friend's house with absolutely abysmal supervision from other parents. Father help him, he even worried about Daniel from time to time and if that wasn't enough to make him think he was going soft, then nothing was.

This overwhelming urge to protect everyone had been weighing him down ever since Chloe had kissed him and said she wanted to try again. Because somewhere along the line, this little piece of life that he'd carved out for himself had become everything to him. He had someone who loved him. More than _one_ someone and more than one kind of love and he'd been so busy basking in the warmth that he'd begun to forget about the fear of losing it all.

The thought of someone so close to Trixie the night before had brought all the fear rushing back in an icy wave. He felt sick.

Lost in his own thoughts, Lucifer jumped a bit when Che nudged him hard with her head. So hard in fact that he almost lost his balance. 

_You're panicking, my Lord. What are you scared of? Shall I eat it?_

__

Lucifer swallowed before managing a dry, humourless laugh at her attempt to cheer him up. He contemplated the ceiling in the following moments of silence, before heaving a long sigh.

“These humans are mine, Che. Not in the sense that they belong to me, but in the sense that _I_ belong to them. _With_ them," he explained slowly and Che's head tilted hard in confusion. He managed a proper smile this time. Not one of his subjects could have ever contemplated or grasped the idea that their King could belong to _anyone._ But Che could at least try. "They love me and I return the sentiment tenfold. Do you understand?" 

It took Che a moment but eventually her big eyes turned to him and she nodded her head once in agreement.

"I worry about their safety. You know better than most how fragile humans are. This wouldn’t be the first time something had threatened them and I suspect it’ll be far from the last…”

Che exhaled, long and low in that solemn way that dogs sometimes did. Lucifer had always found it charming the way his hounds emulated actual dogs. The contrast between their appearance and behaviour had always tickled him for some reason. Watching a six foot beast of an animal whine and scratch at a cell door to be let inside was a sight he'd always been amused to see. His lips quirked in a smile and he rubbed Che’s ear between his thumb and forefinger.

_If they really do mean that much to you, my Lord, then I promise I will do everything in my power to protect them._

Something deep down inside told him that her promise didn't come from fear or some blind loyalty that the other's in her pack would follow him with. No. She actually understood. She, in some strange way, grasped just how much this meant to him. Just what he would do for his family. He stared at her for almost a beat too long, before he rubbed his palm against the side of her face and she let the weight of her head drop into his hand. Just for a moment.

“Good dog,” he said softly.

Che pulled back and looked proud of herself in that way that only she could.. He chuckled to himself and pushed her gently in the direction of the bathroom. He needed a moment alone and knew just how to make Che’s morning a little better after the restraint she'd shown the night before.

“Go on now, mutt. Go annoy the Detective. I’m almost sure she’s run a bath for the urchin and I know how much you love _water_.”

Che didn’t need to be told twice. Water was a luxury that wasn’t to be sniffed at and at the mere mention of it, she turned on her heels and bounded away, tail wagging so hard she could barely steer herself in the proper direction. He would probably get into trouble for that somewhere down the line but so be it.

Lucifer stood after a moment and brushed himself off, sliding back onto his seat and stewing in anger. Anger that he had no outlet for.

The morning could have been so different had Che not been around. No gaudy cartoons that he secretly enjoyed waking them up at six-thirty. No pretending to be irked when he was used as a devilish trampoline. No tickle fights or dozing off feeling so warm that he was worried his heart might burst. None of that. There would have been only anguish and tears left in the wake of an empty bed.

Lucifer stayed in contemplative silence for a while, his hands steepled in front of his face. He didn’t hear Chloe approach, now dressed for the day with her hair down around her shoulders. She lay a hand on the back of his neck and he started, turning to look at her with a wild gaze.

“Babe? Are you okay?” she said, her tone teasing but underlined with a mild concern. Those big blue eyes of hers were so earnest and happy that he just… _couldn’t._

They were barely beginning to heal from the loss of Charlotte. Only now starting to recover from the world changing revelation that he was, in fact, _the_ Devil. Her life was only just beginning to get back to some semblance of normality and the last thing he wanted to do was send her spiralling again. It had taken it's toll on her, no matter how strong she'd seemed in the last few months. Being manipulated by Cain. Losing a friend. Mazikeen's betrayal.

So much on her shoulders and she'd soldiered on as though it wasn't weighing her down. She was only just starting to laugh like she used to again. Only just beginning to have fun again and stop looking over her shoulder. She’d worked so hard to get her life back to normal and the very thought of telling her that something might be wrong before he even had solid proof made him feel sick to his stomach.

He couldn't bear to watch the stress and worry overtake her again. The day before when she'd come to him at Lux, fearful and looking rundown... that had struck him hard. He really didn't think he could be the one to put that look back on her beautiful face.

He made his decision before he could even think about it. He and Che would handle this... for now at least. Chloe was taking Trixie shopping today. A mother, daughter bonding experience that she'd absolutely refused to let him pay for, despite his insistence and they'd both been looking forward to it for weeks.

He would let her have today with the child. Carefree and without a worry that something was amiss. 

Tonight. He would tell her tonight. For now though-

“Well, don’t you just look ravishing love,” he purred and pressed an encouraging kiss to her knuckles. The soft brush of his full lips alongside the scratch of his stubble made her cheeks redden. Lucifer beamed, pleased with himself. He’d changed the subject and made her blush all in one sentence.

Oh yeah. He still had it.

Chloe immediately followed his train of thought. Well, part of it anyway. She either missed the way he avoided her question or didn’t feel the need to push him into answering.

“Hey, don’t look so smug,” she said and nudged him with her hip. “You might be pretty but I’m not fooled, Morningstar. You’re trouble.” Leaning into him, she shimmied her way between his legs and pressed herself into him and Lucifer’s arms came up to band around her. He rested his chin on her chest, staring up at her. She smelled divine- strawberry shampoo and some unidentifiable scent that stirred his cock almost immediately.

Lucifer buried his face into her neck, laying kisses wherever he could reach.

“Hmm, are you _sure_ there isn’t time for a quickie?” he murmured, the sudden throb of arousal making itself known, impossible to keep away with her this close to him. She’d made a promise to him for that night but he had a feeling his news would put a dampener on things. “At _least_ let me go down on you darling- please.”

His fingers twitched in anticipation of sliding inside her and he pulled her closer in an attempt to persuade her. 

Chloe drew him in for a kiss, her body curving against him and her fingers spearing through the short hairs on the back of his neck.

“Believe me, I’dlove you to,” she said breathlessly, then nipped his bottom lip and tugged on it. She certainly sounded like she wanted his mouth on her but he also knew that time was officially running out. Lucifer groaned, out of both pleasure and disappointment. “But I’m not getting another shower, so suck it up, _kitten_.”

He pulled away, outraged.

“Detective, I do _not_ purr. I resent the implication.”

Chloe smiled wickedly in response, pushing his hair away from his forehead. She glanced behind her, making sure they were still alone before running her fingertip along his jawline and tilting his face up towards hers. Lucifer went a little slack-jawed as she pulled back, because she was giving him the biggest, bluest, _‘fuck me’_ eyes he’d ever seen her use. Well then. This was new and _riveting,_ if he did say so himself.

She bit her full bottom lip and whispered, “Not even for me?”

His brain short-circuited.

He made- a sound? Somewhere in the back of his throat. It certainly wasn’t words. He’d forgotten how to use those. He wasn’t sure but he could bet that his nose was bleeding too.

His Detective was _not_ usually good at flirting. She giggled too much and blushed and generally couldn’t take a word of it seriously. He'd always found it utterly endearing and sexy in it's own way. He'd never expected her to come out with something like _that _.__ He swallowed, hard, to remove the lump that was suddenly lodged in his throat. He still couldn't remember how words worked.

“Hnnng,” he managed, all the while melting against her. “Blood-y _Hell._ ”

His moan was absolutely, unutterably indecent and he witnessed the very moment she lost her bottle, her cheeks flaming bright red and her hand coming up to cover her embarrassed grin.

“Okay, I’ve no idea where that came from,” she laughed loudly, all nerves and embarrassment all of a sudden. Fuck, she really had no idea just what that had done to him, did she?

It reminded him very, very clearly of the beginning of their relationship. Back when she still tried to cross her arms over her breasts when she was naked, or muffle how loudly she moaned. Before he’d drummed it into her head that he _liked_ all the things she thought were bad about her body. That he didn't want her to be anyone else when they were together.

He finally found the ability to speak again.

“Don’t do that,” he murmured and it was his turn to catch her chin between his thumb and forefinger now. “I thought I made it perfectly clear that literally everything you do, Detective, turns me on. _That_ was very sexy,” he bumped his nose against hers and rejoiced when she finally smiled properly again. "I think my brain melted out of my ears. If I die erase my computer history," he said, laughing against her collarbone and hugging her tight.

Chloe rolled her eyes, snorting at his antics. But she pressed a kiss to the side of his head and pulled back, still smiling.

He knew what she was going to say before she said it.

“I lo-”

He cut her off, pressing a finger to her lips.

“Darling, a word of warning. If you say what I think you’re about to say, I _will_ fuck you on the floor, right now and I won’t care who sees,” he said, his voice strained because all of his willpower was currently going in to not pouncing on her in the middle of her living room like a deranged animal. Her telling him she loved him would tip him over the edge without a doubt.

Chloe kissed the finger currently pressed to her lips, her eyes shining with amusement.

“Duly noted,” she said, tongue in cheek. Lucifer let her slip from his embrace unwillingly, feeling cold the second she wasn’t touching him any more.

“If it’s any consolation… I ‘lo’ you too though,” he added and his reward was that little dainty blush and a genuine Decker smile.

Suddenly, from the direction of the bathroom, a loud splash was followed by a shriek of laughter and their love struck staring match was cut short as their heads swivelled around to the door. Lucifer knew what had happened without even having to investigate. Definitely not his best idea to point Che in the direction of water…

Sure enough, a moment later, a soaking wet Hell hound slapped her way wetly across the living room to paw at the front door.

“Bloody hell animal,” Lucifer groaned, watching the puddle spread ever outwards. “You couldn’t have gone to the back door instead?”

Che simply flashed him the biggest, saddest does eyes that she could and when Lucifer chanced a glance at Chloe, he was more than a little relieved to see her looking amused instead of pissed. It seemed she was more enchanted by Che than she was letting on and a little bad behaviour wasn’t about to get either of them evicted for the day.

_Bathroom break, my Lord? I'm going to sniff around too, if that helps._

__

Lucifer let out a very put upon sigh, grumbling the entire way to the door to unlock it. Che bounded past him, water droplets flicking everywhere as she went.

Well. He really only had himself to blame for this one.

He flashed Chloe a sheepish smile- before he went to get the mop. Probably best not to push his luck any further.

-

The sun was warm and bright as Che stretched luxuriously on the patch of grass in front of the houses.

It was almost intoxicating- the feeling of dirt under her paws and the heat of a sun she’d only heard stories of on her back. So she couldn’t be blamed for indulging herself a little for the past half hour. Her ward was getting dressed for a day out with her mother and so she had a moment to appreciate being topside- along with all the shiny new perks it brought with it.

Sunshine, grass, flowers, water. Luxuries that were only ever thought about in Hell but that covered the earth in abundance. It was so different from the constant fall of ash and the muggy, acrid heat from the ever burning lake.

The first and only other time she’d been on earth had been at night, decades ago if her timing was correct.

It had been on some dark, cold beach in a harsh land of war and blood- with the smell of the dying or dead hanging thick in the air. It hadn’t been all that different from home and at the time she hadn’t thought much of the place. Same old, same old.

She’d kept to her master’s heels closely- Mazikeen trailing at the rear as they hunted.

Their quarry had been a wayward demon who had chosen to ignore the ‘no possession’ rule. A nasty little creature who had delighted in finally breaking free of Hell and had run riot in what was already a bloody, pointless affair.

Lucifer had headed the hunt himself- taking the disobedience as a personal insult.

It had been fun in it’s own way. The whistle of the human’s weapons from either side and the heat of the explosions on her face. She hadn’t had a glamour that time around and she’d swept through the battlefield with ease- bringing terror and fear where she went and the soldiers had parted for them like the sea- begging for mercy and crossing themselves in some vain attempt to make things right with God.

Lucifer hadn’t given them much thought, simply shooing them away and back to their woeful fates. He had no need nor desire to get involved beyond taking back his insubordinate demon.

The runt had been easy to find in the end. Smoking and drinking and enjoying the pleasures that a nearby village had offered- none of which had been given freely by the civilians living there. Lucifer had snapped his fingers and she had run the demon down, taking him back to Hell in one fell swoop and it had been glorious. The thrill of the chase and the fear and the blood.

The moment her paws had hit the ground in Hell, she had tossed him to the lesser rabble to do with as they pleased. From what she’d heard whispered in the corridors long after, his fate had not been a pleasant one. Oh well. Disobedience of such a strict rule was not taken lightly- nor was running your King on a wild goose chase through a human war zone. 

Che never thought she’d get another chance to see the earth in more prosperous times, especially after Lucifer had vanished for so long and didn't seem to be coming back any time soon. So colour her very surprised to see him waiting for her on one of her patrol routes, shushing her celebratory howls and sneaking her topside without so much as an explanation. Not that she was complaining. She'd been overjoyed to see him, no matter the circumstances. 

So she was going to take advantage of as much as she could before she had to return home.

Between the sunshine and the water and the affection from this morning, she felt almost _peaceful-_ or as peaceful as a demon _could_ feel anyway. It was a little disconcerting sometimes though. She could still feel her true form prodding and brushing at the edges of her glamour, confused and anxious to be let out again.

In the end though, her mission wasn’t far from her mind. The inner monster would have to wait until things were dealt with here.

Speaking of which…

Che lifted her head from the grass, already mourning the loss of the cool, tickling touch. Perhaps a bit of reconnaissance was in order now. She had indulged enough.

Humans left scents wherever they went and the man last night would have been no different. Her senses were beginning to settle back to normal now, after food and rest. It was as good a time as ever.

Giving one last satisfying yawn, Che stood and made her way to the back of the complex.

If Chloe and Trixie were with her master then it seemed safe enough to leave their side, so she didn’t concern herself with their safety for the moment. Daylight tended to deter criminals and she doubted anyone would get close anyway with Lucifer there.

She sloped past the handful of houses at the end of the complex and raised her head- sniffing the air. Past the earthy smell of the grass and the leaves littering the ground, something sour clung to spaces in the foliage. She followed the smell as easily as one would a road, with her nose wrinkled and teeth bared in a sharp grimace.

It was so unpleasant. But it wasn’t…

She stopped and inhaled again, against her better judgement. The smell assaulted her almost full force and she sneezed, cursing everything as she did. It wasn’t the smell of a soul at all. It was something _different_. It had intermingled with the scent of the soul and created a pungent odour that churned her stomach. She'd smelled it before but she couldn't place it for the life of her.

Onwards she followed it until she found the place it was strongest. A repugnant cloud of it hung heavy in the air and she sneezed again, whining and pawing at her nose. From the back window of the house came the sound of Trixie, asking her mother about their plans for the day- intermixed with Lucifer’s dry commentary. So it led directly here then. Unsurprising but annoying all the same. 

The back of the complex had a good smattering of trees, bushes and other such things to keep the world from peering in. But underneath this particular window was a small clearing- just big enough for a person to stand. The surrounding foliage was thick enough to conceal anyone looking inside. It wouldn't be easy to see from the other houses anyway.

Che sniffed along the ground, trying to suss out any other smells underneath that horrible, thick air that covered everything else. There weren’t many clues. A few cigarette butts, a footprint that she got a hint of leather from. Broken twigs and flattened grass in some places. Nothing that suggested anything more than an opportunistic burglar and with Lucifer's penchant for smoking the butts could well belong to him. Although maybe not this far behind the house.

And… and that horrible, musty fucking _smell _.__ She padded forward, the stench of it making her ears flatten as it only increased in strength. There was something so familiar and yet, disturbing about it. Still she couldn’t place it, sighing in annoyance at having to keep inhaling until she could.

She followed it right up to the wall and stopped dead in her tracks. On the wall beneath the window, the paint was slightly discoloured. Stained. The smell permeated from it like a beacon.

Suddenly, it all clicked and rage sprung forth in Che so suddenly, so powerfully, that her glamour shook and flickered with the effort of keeping it contained. She dug her claws deep, deep into the soil and her muscles tensed hard enough to cramp and she shook like she was being electrocuted. She swallowed a baying howl that threatened to break loose and it was only by _sheer_ force of will that she didn’t break the glamour.

She breathed hard, stalking away until she could find something to rest against and when the rage slowly but surely subsided- she half collapsed against a tree, her breathing uneven and laboured.

Che exhaled one last time and collapsed down on the grass, exhausted.

A staunch irritation bit at her now, directed mainly at herself. She should have just _attacked_ last night, she thought bitterly. Now whoever had been lurking with such vicious intent was gone and free to possibly return. Che shuddered, trying her best not to direct energy towards the boiling in the pit of her stomach because she didn't have the strength left to keep her disguise in place if the rage returned. That had been... intense. She was exhausted. The power Lucifer had used to make her appear this way was far beyond her reach and she couldn't keep it in place if she lost control again.

She stood slowly and shook herself, before ducking her head and turning away from the scene she'd stumbled across, disgusted by it.

With one last hate filled glance back at the subtle signs of perverted pleasure, she listlessly walked back to her master.

If her anger could shake the ground, she could hardly wait to see what his would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the slightly later posting. Been working overtime to afford a trip to California but it doesn't leave much room for socialising.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maze finally makes an interesting appearance, someone is lurking with malicious intent and Lucifer really needs to call a repairman.

****Chapter 5** **

It took Lucifer an hour before he could force away his Devil face and even longer before his red eyes changed back to brown. Che had, quite rightly, waited until Chloe and Trixie were out of the house before she’d informed him of what she’d found. Definitely one of her better decisions, seeing as he hadn't taken the news all that well. About as well as could be expected when he heard that a pervert had been mere feet away from Beatrice Decker while she slept.

He would have to call someone about the hole he'd put in the living room wall before they returned but at least he had decent contacts. He could have it repaired in an hour or less, if needs be.

The deep boil of anger had now turned into a steady simmer- after he'd drained the only alcohol he could find in the house. He was relieved that his Devil face probably wouldn't be coming back any time soon because he really didn’t want either of them to see him like that.

Chloe, of course, insisted vehemently that she was _fine_ with his other face and Trixie had only seen it once, when she'd asked if he had another face like Mazikeen did. But the fact that they accepted it didn’t mean he wanted to parade that part of himself around more than he needed to. 

As of now, he just felt fidgety without anything to do.

He’d expended most of his energy, acting like an absolute barbarian in the middle of Chloe's living room- wings out, face out and cursing to the sky that he would hunt down the man who did this and rip his legs off. His own leg bounced frantically and the little Devil faced stress ball, an ironic gift from his girlfriend, was being squeezed to within an inch of it’s life in his hand. He desired nothing more than to be out there, hunting down the thing that had violated his family’s privacy but he was stuck here instead. No evidence that it was who he thought it was and therefore no reason to choke the life out of him in whatever hotel room he currently occupied.

While he constantly, and loudly, professed to dislike children- Lucifer was and always had been, _fascinated_ by them. Of course, he rarely had the opportunity to interact with any before he met Chloe and there had never been any children in Hell... But the few he'd met on his earlier visits to earth had piqued his interest. Tiny humans were profoundly interesting things, despite his aversion to their constantly sticky hands and zero respect for personal space.

They were wild and emotionally open. Inquisitive. Free with their desires and their opinions and as much as he might not like the comparison, they reminded him of his younger self. Before Hell and before the Rebellion. Before he'd asked a question and had suffered the consequences of it.

Perhaps that was why he envied them so much. Deep down, past the veneer of dislike he professed to have.

He _envied_.

But he was ultimately enraptured at the same time by the freedom and exuberance they had for life. Quite a few of them for the stars. His stars, his own children, became bedtime stories and maps and ways to pass the time and human children loved them. Pride really was his ultimate sin.

So, when he'd learned that there were people who would hurt them? Cause them pain? Rape them, beat them, force them into servitude? 

  


Well. It had hit a little _too_ close to home for the King of Hell. It hadn't been a conscious decision at first. Not the first one anyway. Lucifer had sought him out to simply ask, 'why?'. The man hadn't had an answer. Not one that Lucifer had liked at any rate. So the hounds had been unleashed and with a fervent eagerness that he hadn't expected to have for the job, Lucifer had set them upon him. 

It might have been the first time he had personally dished out punishment but it certainly hadn't been the last.

Lucifer hadn’t even realised that his phone was buzzing loudly in his pocket until Che whined and jabbed his elbow with her nose, hard. He almost jumped as the memories of Hell faded and he was back, sitting in Chloe's living room like nothing was amiss. He briefly wondered how long he'd been lost in though as he checked his phone screen.

Mazikeen’s name, accompanied by a little angry faced emoji, flashed up and Lucifer heaved a sigh of relief that he would never admit to anyone. While he was more than competent when it came to handling matters like this, it always helped to have Maze on side. She wasn't his right hand demon for nothing and she was swiftly becoming a huge part of Beatrice's life too. It simply wouldn't be fair to leave her out.

“Maze!” he greeted her with a false cheeriness, well aware that she was probably scowling on the other end of the line.

“What gives Lucifer? Why do I have seven missed calls from you? _Please_ , tell me you didn't forget to do the books for Lux again,” she barked and Lucifer could hear the barely hidden exasperation in her voice. Honestly, he wasn’t an idiot. He’d finished the books the morning before, after Chloe had left Lux and before the absolutely diabolical events that had occurred afterwards.

He grinned wickedly. It was still nice to have a little fun with her all the same. There was nothing like an angry Hellspawn. 

“Nonsense, I didn't forget. I’ve left them all for you on your return-”

He had to pull the phone away from his ear to avoid the subsequent barrage of expletives directed at him. Some of the words she was using were a tad extreme but he let it slide, far too amused by her reaction. Maze would rather die a thousand deaths at the hands of the demon rabble than do the books for Lux. It was a handy thing to bet with when he needed to. She was still swearing ten seconds later, in several different languages and he decided it was quite enough.

“Bloody- I’m _kidding_ , Mazikeen! Have you quite finished?”

He heard a noncommittal grunt on the other end of the line and took it as a yes. One crisis averted then. One more to go.

“Excellent!” Lucifer licked his bottom lip, glancing at Che who was torn between listening in and examining the phone and the voice coming out of it with curiosity. It would have been adorable if the situation were any different and Lucifer shot her a fond smile. She didn't seem to notice, simply cocking her head in a mild sort of wonder. “Listen Maze, I need to ask a favour of you. It’s to do with a pervert- or a potential one, anyway. We’re not exactly sure yet.”

Whatever rebuff Maze had been about to offer after the word ‘favour’, was stopped in it’s tracks. He could practically hear the gears turning in her head and he played with his stress ball while she contemplated what he’d asked for a moment. Maze had always been somewhat repulsed by children. She hadn't really shared his innate curiosity, simply bypassing that and heading straight to 'ew, gross'. But now that she had Trixie, her own personal mini me who looked at her with awe, Mazikeen's icy stance on them was quickly thawing.

“Lucifer… is everything alright at home? Is Trixie okay? Do I need to come back?” she asked, all trace of malice suddenly gone and replaced instead with a cool sense of urgency. The pride that washed over him came out of nowhere. Hell was really behind them now. She called Los Angeles home just as easily as he did now. The longing for the good old days was gone, left behind in the wake of friends and family and a sense of belonging.

All the same, he swiftly pushed away the urge to tell Maze how proud he was. She really wouldn’t appreciate it.

“To tell the truth, not really Maze,” he started, his voice low and weary. “Chloe’s mum is currently the owner of a sparkly new and _very_ creepy boyfriend. He gives off such an odd vibe- I can't seem to find the words to describe it. I could feel it the moment I met him..." Lucifer sighed, flashing back to the night before. Dinner with the folks turned dinner with the folks plus Captain Creepy. "Chloe doesn’t trust him around the child and neither do I quite frankl-” Lucifer jumped at the sharp, loud crack of a gunshot on the other end of the phone and a man screamed in the background. “Um… Maze? Is everything alright?”

“S’fine,” she answered tightly. “Got a little angry but he’s okay. You’re okay, right Chekov?” her voice turned away from the phone for a moment and Lucifer could only imagine what she’d him called in the middle of. A pained whimper of _‘yes ma’am’_ in a thick Russian accent followed.

“Mazikeen, did you call me in the middle of an interrogation?”

“No. Maybe. Whatever, I was getting bored,” she answered dismissively. Lucifer couldn’t ask for more than that. You could take the demon out of Hell, blah, blah, blah. If Maze wasn’t torturing some poor sap then it wouldn’t be the weekend. “Now,” she said brusquely. “Who’s threatening the kid so I can come back and stab him in the eye with his own rib.”

“Maze, please try and remember the whole- bring them in _alive_ business.”

“Ugh. That’s dumb,” she grunted, and it sounded like she was moving something heavy while she talked.

“Agreed. But so far he’s just been… off? I suppose there’s no better word for it. Then again, if it wasn’t for Che sniffing about last night-”

“Hold on, wait up!”

Something thudded with a pained grunt on the other end of the line. Lucifer could hear the sheer delight in Maze’s voice. She adored the hounds, despite her penchant for murdering anyone that dared say as much. Maze had always taken a special interest in their welfare and training. Like a sort of Hellish dog whisperer, if you will. She would stalk around the corridors of Hell, a hound or two in tow, striking fear into everyone that crossed her path. Che just happened to be the one that Maze enjoyed spending time with the most. Seeing as Maze was around Lucifer all day long in Hell and Che was also always around him for reasons unbeknown to either party- it hadn't taken them long to form a strange bond. 

“Did you just say Che!?” Maze said, her voice dripping with excitement. “As in _our_ Che?”

Beside him, the dog in question panted happily in the direction of her favourite demon’s voice, her mouth open in a happy grin and he had to use one hand to push her away from the phone so he could breathe something other than dog breath. Che was undeterred, whining and huffing a frustrated noise at him. 

“Yes, yes, that Che in particular. I thought you might be pleased.”

“I guess. She’s pretty… ya know, _cool_ I suppose,” Maze levelled her voice quickly into her usual apathy, covering any other emotion with a fake cough. Lucifer chuckled to himself, covering the phone.

“Look, long story short, I went to Hell and brought Che back with me. I wanted something that could look after Beatrice when she went to school and anyone competent couldn’t be there," he explained, stroking Che's head absently while he talked. "Seems it was the right thing to do. She scared off someone creeping around outside the child’s window last night,” Lucifer said tightly, biting down on his tongue in an attempt to distract himself from the still simmering rage. He could feel his glamour threatening to flicker and he breathed deeply.

He purposely omitted one particular detail that Che had shared with him though. He didn’t need Maze blazing a trail of destruction across the globe just to get to L.A. in a timely manner.

There was a moment of eerie silence and then- three gunshots went off in quick succession and Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose tightly.

Poor Chekov.

“Mazikeen _really_ -”

“I’m coming home right this second. I’m sick of Krasnoyarsk anyway, there’s too much snow and not enough gangsters,” she said, and Lucifer could hear the smug _‘anymore’_ she’d wanted to add. He shook his head. Of course Maze was in bloody Siberia, of all places. She was quite the globetrotter these days. “When I get back, I’m going to feed this asshole to Che myself.”

Lucifer heaved an irritated sigh.

“That’s the bloody problem, Mazikeen!” he said, exasperated. “I have precisely zero evidence that they’re one and the same person. Zilch, nada, nil. And it's not like I can go around accusing a man that I’ve met once of being a paedophile now can I? Especially not when it’s my future mother-in-law’s new beau. It's not as simple as it was at the beginning. Even a few months ago before- Well. Before that nasty business with Cain.”

Sometimes things were never as simple as just, killing the bad guy. There was always something else. Someone else. An accomplice, a network, a gang. He'd really gotten some insight to just how complicated things could become in the wake of The Sinnerman's crime network.

“Okay, _okay_. Chill out. We’ll do it L.A.P.D. style if it’ll make you stop whining,” Maze said abruptly and Lucifer tried to stop his eyes rolling back into his head. A car alarm sounded briefly in the background before it stopped and the sound of an engine roaring replaced it.

“How very accommodating of you Maze," he said sarcastically. "Well, during your apparently murderous rampage on the way home, would you mind doing a little digging at least?” he asked, exasperated. He’d just listened to a torture, turned execution, turned vehicle theft in the space of ten minutes. He didn’t know whether to be impressed or terrified. Sometimes he walked the fine line of being both at the same time.

“Sure, I’ll have loads of time to kill on the plane. What the guys name?”

“Harry Fisher,” Lucifer said and even the name tasted ashy on his tongue. “Possibly an alias but hopefully not, if we're lucky and he's cocky. Good looking, if you like the type. Brown hair, greying at the sides, blue eyes. About 5’9. Scruffy looking in a handsome way, I suppose.”

"Anything else I should know?"

"He mentioned last night that he spent the last two decades in Europe, all over the place. Quite a few different countries..."

"But?"

"... Well, we all spoke briefly about cuisine. I was telling an absolutely charming story about the wonders of Italian food-" 

"Wow. _Today_ please."

"You're an absolute philistine Mazikeen," Lucifer groused, scowling. "Anyway, he mentioned having some of the best Italian food he'd ever eaten at a place called Acquerello. Which I do believe is in Venice. That might be something to go on. He didn't mention when he ate there but if it's recent enough to remember the way it tasted down to such a bloody fine point then it might be a good place to start." 

  


That had been one of the very few points of conversation Harry had actually engaged in the night before- before he'd been put in his place by a Hellhound and a disgruntled Devil. He'd seemed quite well travelled and after he'd mentioned Italian food, Penelope hadn't stopped talking about all the places he'd been to. If Maze thought _she_ was racking up air miles quickly then Harry was going for some kind of record. 

"How in the Hell do you know where that is?" she asked.

"A _very_ happy accident actually," he beamed cheerfully. "I was looking at city breaks for Chloe and myself last month- was planning on surprising her by taking her to Venice for her birthday and if you know me, which you _do_ , then you know that the first thing I do when planning a break is to take a glance at the very finest of dining. I can't have the love of my life eating swill, now can I?" he sniffed primly, playing with the stress ball. He'd been planning this for ages now and he was relieved that he'd decided to plan their outings beforehand. 

  


If he hadn't then he wouldn't have been able to place Harry in a specific location before Los Angeles. 

“Fine, I'll start there and see if anything comes up. I’ll be back as soon as I can... Lucifer? ” she said and her voice softened to an almost whisper. He had to press the phone to his ear to hear what she was saying over the background hum of the car engine and surrounding traffic. “Don’t let anything happen to that kid. Please. I.. I couldn’t live with myself if she got hurt and I wasn’t there to protect her.”

The earnest tone of her voice hit something in Lucifer, hard. He swallowed, looking towards Che.

“You have my word, Maze. Nothing will touch a hair on her head. Che will rip them to pieces long before they even have a chance to get close to her.”

There was silence for a long moment and Lucifer was about to hang up when-

“Thank you.”

With that, he was met with a dial tone.

Lucifer exhaled and let his head fall back against the couch. Now that he had Maze on the case there was nothing else to do but wait until she turned something up. This was the excruciating part that he loathed. He wasn’t afraid to admit that sitting around and waiting for things to happen wasn’t his strong point- of which he had many. Alas, he mused. It was what had to be done. He'd promised, long ago, to stop being so rash. Try not to be so hot headed in situations where patience was key.

He was buggered then. That was practically his calling card.

It wasn’t as though he could simply storm around to the hotel that Penelope and Harry were staying in… Maybe. He hadn’t decided yet. He still had to call a repair man to patch the hole in the wall that he’d destroyed in a fit of rage, so he could always occupy himself doing that. 

His right hand twitched with the effort that it took not to stand and fly directly to his only suspect and beat a confession out of him. Hard.

Harry had given off such a surreal vibe in the few short hours that they’d spent in each others company. A study in opposites. A warm, friendly voice but eyes that flashed every now and then with something cold and unreadable. Untrustworthy. He had set Lucifer’s teeth on edge in a bad way and while he had tried to hide his displeasure for Penelope’s sake, Lucifer had all but shooed them both out of the door at the end of the night.  


Thankfully Chloe had been as relieved as he had just to be the three of them again. Four if you counted Che.

And a vibe, however strong, was hardly enough to convict a man or send him to Hell. There was no proof that it had been Harry outside of the child’s window last night. It was maddening.

He was so lost in thought, that he jumped when Che suddenly lunged to her feet. Her ears perked up ever so slightly and she turned her head from side to side, listening intently to something. Or someone. Lucifer pushed himself to the edge of the seat, ready to move if she gave the signal. The thick fur on her neck was on end, her eyes darting back and forward and she hopped down slowly from the couch, padding towards the back door.

“Che?” he said, deliberately, when she was quiet for too long.

_Outside._

“What is it?” he pressed. Chloe’s car was gone for the moment and he hadn’t bothered bringing his the night before- preferring to walk Che through the city to get her used to her surroundings for a bit.

So it might, to the untrained eye, seem like nobody was home. The perfect time to do something if you were planning it.

_Someone... leaving something? They don't smell like the man from last night. But something still doesn't smell quite...right..._

Lucifer rose from where he'd been sitting, striding purposefully towards the back door. 

"Come along then," he said brusquely and Che didn't hesitate to follow him. He opened the back door sharply, as if he wanted to surprise anyone who might have been standing there. But there was no-one there.

Lucifer stepped over the threshold carefully, quietly, and Che slunk out behind him keeping low around his legs. They moved like dancers together, constantly aware of each other and where they were, just like the good old days. In tune, like it should be. Grace and power in tandem, together.

She inhaled through her nose and caught a scent, human and male but not the male who had been lurking outside the child's window. She wouldn't forget _that_ scent in a hurry.

She might be getting used to her new body, but it still functioned in much the same way as her old one and she found her stride easily, sloping past Lucifer for a moment. The only indication that she had moved around him was the light breeze that raised the fine hairs on the back of his hand.

Lucifer looked left and right, slipping around the side of the building towards the front. He was perfectly silent, Che at his heels, as he peered around the corner in search of anyone who might have been wandering around. There was a young man across the way but Lucifer recognised him as one of the Detective's neighbours and he confirmed it by walking into one of the houses- shutting the door behind him.

Other than that... there was no one around.

How terribly irritating, he fumed to himself. 

Che looked furious with the situation when he turned to address her and he was alarmed to see her breathing heavily out of frustration rather than exertion- every exhale turning harsher and harsher until they were snarls and growls instead. She began to stalk back and forth, turning sharply back and forth and he could feel the angry air rolling off of her in waves- her muscles tense and her claws flexing into the dirt like she was longing to open up and run. Like a greyhound straining in the slip, desperate for the chase.

He cooed softly, understandingly and knelt in front of her, rubbing his hand through her fur.

“Calm yourself,” he said, even though he felt anything but calm himself. It wouldn’t do to have Che’s glamour slip now. The amount of effort he’d expended on putting it there in the first place was enough to tire him out for a week. 

It would do nothing more than mean an inconvenient trip back to Hell for both of them.

Powerless to go against her master’s orders, Che relaxed as much as she could- steadying her breathing and forcing down the monster inside until she could barely hear it’s whimpering any more. She exhaled, long and heavy but Lucifer patted her head, pleased at her apparent control. The Che he’d known so long ago would have broken the glamour by now in her anger.

“Excellent! Absolutely marvellous darling. Now tell me, what can you smell?”

She took a moment to collect herself and push away any possibility of snapping that might be lingering. Closing her eyes, Che inhaled slowly. The smells of the outdoors assaulted her from every angle, painting a mental picture that she could follow. Trees, bushes, grass- those were pushed to one side. She stood, still breathing deeply and walked back in the direction of the back door to the rear of the house. Squirrels, birds, garbage cans…

Lucifer followed close behind, silent as she worked. Dirt, more grass and- Che stopped suddenly, grunting unhappily.

Meat? _Fresh meat._ But it really, really didn't smell right. She followed her nose to the grassy area behind the house- an area where someone may well let their pet out to pee or to get some fresh air. It stank of-

"Poison," Lucifer observed softly, nudging a cube of red meat with the toe of his shoe gingerly.

  


_Poison._

Che concurred when she sat down next to him, cocking her head at it. Was this really what humans did to each other up here? Even now? There were cubes scattered through the grass here and there, closer to the Decker house than any others and clearly very deliberately aimed at one animal in particular. Lucifer patted Che's head, wondering what kind of anguish he might have felt were she just a normal house pet. 

"How quaint,” he said drily, wrinkling his nose. “Filthy cretins.”

Sacrificing a pocket square, much to his disdain- Lucifer removed all of the meat he could find. 

“Come along,” he ordered softly and he didn’t need to wait to see if Che would follow. He tramped his way back to the house much less quietly carefully than when he’d come out, the little parcel of meat held at arms length. He threw it in the nearest trash can on his way. It certainly wouldn’t do for some other less intelligent creature to stumble across it and be subject to what would probably be a very painful death.

His anger this time, was for Che and anything else that might have chanced across that meat. 

  


Long before humans had muddied the earth with their presence, there had been animals. Animals galore. Beasts that towered over him and beasts that skittered around his legs and the Morningstar had found a sense of wonder in them he’d never experienced before.

But it hadn’t been until long after his fall from Heaven that he’d seen domesticated animals.

Dogs hadn’t been the first by far- but they _had_ been his favourite. If he’d modelled his hounds on that particular modicum of his Father’s creation, then that was nobodies business but his. There was just something about them.

They were the very epitome of fierce.

Fierce protectors. Fierce hunters. Fierce in the face of danger.

So a dog- a very loud, very protective dog- might be seen as a problem for whomever had been lurking about the night before. The meat was their ham-handed attempt at a solution to their problem. Although... Che had said that whoever it had been hadn't smelled like the man from last night. Lucifer really, really didn't like the sudden implication that there was more than one person involved here. It confirmed his fear that the buck might not stop with getting rid of the obvious suspect.

Lucifer closed the door behind Che and tongued the inside of his cheek, wishing that he’d had the forethought to bring a bottle of whiskey along at least. He might text Chloe and ask her to stop by Lux on her way home. That would give him enough time to fix the mess he’d made too.

"It appears, dearest Che, that Beatrice isn't the only one that could be in the firing line here."

_The meat was for me, wasn't it? Idiotic humans. Like I would ever eat something that smelled of poison._

"Not the brightest bunch, I grant you. But still too clever for their own good sometimes," he said, leaning back against the kitchen counter. "You must have put a bee in _someone's_ bonnet though. I just wish I knew who. So I could eviscerate them painfully." Che huffed something that passed for a laugh, pawing at her face as if to rub sleep from her eyes. She yawned and bowed her back, pushing her paws out in front of her in a stretch of muscles that had yet to used properly. Then she turned on her heels and padded towards the living area.

  


"You don't seem concerned for your welfare very much," he observed lightly, one eyebrow quirking.

_No matter the costume I wear, in the end, I'm still me. Human weapons are useless and so are their measly poisons. I'm not concerned about myself, my Lord._

Lucifer followed her, all the while tapping out two messages on his phone. One to Chloe about stopping by Lux and the other to a friend of a friend with a good reputation for fixing holes in things. He'd repaired his fair share of messes in the penthouse for Lucifer in exchange for a business start up. Not a bad trade, considering how many times his poor penthouse had been trashed in last few years. 

"What about Beatrice? Are you concerned about her?" he asked, pacing over to the window to peer outside.

_The little human is... brave for someone so small. It's admirable. She's clever too. Not someone I expect will walk into dangerous situations._

Lucifer smiled fondly, quietly impressed by Che's observations so far.

"Yes, the bravery and cleverness are all her mother's doing of course. Sadly though, both Daniel _and_ Chloe have a penchant for wandering head first into danger, no matter how much I advise against it. The odds are not stacked in Beatrice's favour I'm afraid. Silly, breakable humans," he mused, arms folded now as he lounged against the window, watching for any sign of someone who looked like they were watching the house. Although, surely they wouldn't be brazen enough to come back _again_. Not in the day time at least. He really, really needed to have a word with someone about getting the security cameras at the end of the block fixed.

Bloody things had been out for months.

_What are we going to do my Lord?_

He twirled the thick ring on his finger absently, mulling over Che’s question. He didn’t have an answer for her. Not really. Right now all he could do was hope that Maze was luckier than they had been. Two people was far more worrying than one was.

Hell, what if it didn’t stop at two?

Until Maze’s plane landed in L.A. there was nothing to be done but remain vigilant around the child. Che wouldn’t leave her side, he would make sure of it. If nothing came of Harry Fisher then he would move on and search for other leads- but as of now, it seemed that all of their eggs were in one very demon shaped basket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I refuse to accept any reality in which Maze isn't out in the world murdering Russian mobsters.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucifer gets distracted. Che gets distracted. It's a big fuckin' distraction party all up in this place.

****Chapter Six** **

Chloe sat quietly in front of the dressing table that night, brushing the snags of the day out of her hair. Usually, Lucifer would help. His ability to caress a lock open translated really well into getting tangles out and she'd spent many a lazy night in his penthouse, sitting between his legs while he teased the knots from her hair with ease. 

But tonight he was lazing across their bed instead, absently looking at the ceiling. She couldn't help but stare at him through the mirror. The sharp angle of his jawline and the flat expanse of his stomach, where his hand rested. Strong forearms and the defined muscles of his upper arms and shoulders. All tanned, freckled skin and- She hissed when she caught a snag accidentally. Her own fault for ogling him.

Lucifer smiled and she rolled her eyes. Of course he knew what she was doing.

He could feel the burn of Chloe’s eyes trailing over his body through the mirror’s reflection and he was currently thinking about her promise from the morning.

He saw her smile too- clearly thinking the same thing the way her eyes trailed over his relaxed form. He’d promised himself that, without a shadow of a doubt, he would tell her about the night before when he had the chance. But Lucifer's priorities were rapidly changing the more he thought about getting her into bed beside him. The way she touched him was addictive. He'd never known someone who managed to convey so many emotions in the way they touched someone else but Hell if Chloe wasn't a pro at it.

She wasn’t finished with her night time routine though, so he would just have to wait.

Zoning out again, thoughts filled with just what he was going to do to her when she was finished, he almost didn’t hear her speak.

“Mom called me today,” she said quietly. “While Trix and I were getting pizza.”

He was brought back to the sharp sting of reality by her words.

“Oh?”

His voice was tight- tighter than he liked. He’d been trying to force himself to relax all day, more for Chloe and Trixie's sake than for himself. He didn’t want either of them worrying about him of all things. She had more than enough on her plate. But it was difficult, if not impossible to stop his body tensing ever so slightly at the reminder that Harry Fisher was in their lives.

“Yeah,” Chloe turned away from the mirror at last, setting her brush down as she did. “She and Harry wanted to take her with them to the beach tomorrow.”

Lucifer sat up abruptly then, his eyes flashing before he could stop himself. Chloe held up her hands placatingly, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Come on, give me some credit Luce. I told her we’ve already made plans.”

In a vain attempt to play off his worry as casual, Lucifer snorted and shrugged his shoulders, falling back into the downy comforter.

“Yes, well. Of _course_ I didn’t think you’d let the little terror goblin out of your sight. I’m not foolish,” he sniffed airily and Chloe’s barely hidden laugh brought an embarrassed flush to his face. He heard the chair move and suddenly she was hovering over him, looking pleased with his response.

There was a time, very early in their partnership that he would have had to fight hard to get a look like that from her. Now they seemed to be a daily occurrence. He couldn’t say he was adverse to the change at all.

The bed dipped on either side of his thighs when she straddled him suddenly and the rest of the lingering tension in his shoulders vanished. Along with anything Lucifer had been about to tell her. There must have been an ' _salivating idiot_ ' switch somewhere in his brain that flicked on and off- dependant upon the Detective's proximity to him. He was a little worried that it was always on these days. 

“Hello,” she said affectionately, smoothing her thumb over his cheek.

“Hello.”

His hands slid up, over the tops of her thighs to come to rest on her hips, his thumbs rubbing circles. Chloe amused herself playing with the loose strands of his hair while he silently marvelled at her. All the product had long since gone after his shower and she made no secret that she loved it when it was curly and free. He couldn't even pretend to hate it when she ran her fingers through it. He turned into a mess whenever she did. Now was no different.

He was still trying to ward off the wide eyed, dewy look he knew he’d given her when she’d straddled him.

“You,” she said, while she leaned down to kiss him. “Are being so protective.” Another kiss that left him embarrassingly breathless. “And so sweet.” She kissed the corner of his mouth, holding him to the bed gently when he strained up to try and nip at her tempting bottom lip. He could have moved her easily but why on earth would he want to do that?

Chloe nuzzled his neck, smiling.

She’d seated herself just above his cock, not touching him but just the sight of her nipples straining against the fabric of her shirt and her blue eyes looking at him through her lashes- With barely any effort on her part, he was achingly hard in seconds.

“I thought I was _always_ sweet and protective?,” he asked, pouting when she didn’t give into temptation and kiss him again. “Surely that’s why you find me so utterly irresistible?”

“Something like that,” she said, no longer bothering to keep up the pretence of resisting. She didn’t protest when he wound one muscular arm around her waist and hoisted her closer or when he practically lifted her off the bed and set her down again right on top of his erection. But she did mutter, “Show off,” to him under her breath.

Lucifer laughed heartily, tugging her down to lie across him so he could kiss her and grind upwards at the same time. One hand slid lazily over her back, dipping into the feminine curve of her spine and then cresting over her ass. The other cupped the side of her face when he pulled her in for a proper kiss.

Deliberately, he trailed a series of kisses along her neck, dipping his tongue into the hollow of her throat and revelling in the hitching gasp that it pulled out of her.

His hand slid further, down from her ass and to the back of her thigh and with the leverage that came with preternatural strength, Lucifer tugged her closer. He jerked his hips up at the same time, grinding against her fully now. The sleep shorts she’d put on after her shower did little in the way of getting between them and she moaned, nosing at his jaw.

Her breath was hot, wet on his pulse and he ground upwards again only to be met with a downwards thrust of her own.

“Stop teasing,” she demanded, her voice thick with arousal. But Lucifer Morningstar had an excellent memory. He hadn't forgotten the torture he'd been through that morning as easily as Chloe had. He grinned wickedly, just out of sight. Pressing his lips to her neck, he swept his fingers up along her sides and Chloe caught on to what was about to happen a moment too late.

Lucifer inhaled sharply and blew a raspberry against the most ticklish part of her neck, the same moment as he gripped her hips and tipped her over.

She squealed loudly in surprised protest, limbs flailing as she went.

“Lucifer, what the Hell!?” she half laughed, half protested as he cackled wickedly against her neck, incredibly proud of himself. His fingers tickled her sides and she squirmed and thrashed, snorting in a very unladylike way as her breath caught in her throat when she tried to free herself. “Lucifer! You _jerk!”_

His laughter was infectious though and she joined in, even as she still tried to buck him off. But he wasn't a weak little human. He was strong and she was still aroused enough that her legs were shaky, so her efforts were in vain.

“Revenge is sweet!” he declared, before flopping bonelessly on her. All the air escaped her lungs in a whoosh because the Devil was a broad shouldered, six foot two mass of muscle. Hardly a featherweight. Chloe was pinned to the bed by his bulk without any means of escape, all while Lucifer giggled childishly against the side of her head.

He was definitely proud of himself for this.

“I brought this on myself, didn’t I?” she lamented dramatically from underneath him, turning her head as best she could. His eyes stared back at her, bright and happy and she found that even pinned under him as she was, she couldn’t stop herself from returning his grin. “You’re such a goofball,” she said, fondly.

“A Devil never forgets,” Lucifer replied triumphantly and then kissed her, his weight letting up so she could breathe again. She definitely wouldn't be telling him that she kind of liked being pinned down. Not right now, anyway. 

While she recovered from such a vicious attack, Lucifer hurriedly undid the neat little bow she’d tied at the front of her shorts before she could register what was happening. Triumphant over the drawstrings at last, he breathlessly tugged her shorts loose and shoved his hand down the front- much to Chloe’s loud surprise and appreciation.

“Oh!" she sighed pleasantly, tilting her face to press a kiss against his lips. "So we're still having sex? I thought you were just tricking me in some terrible revenge plot for earlier?” she asked lazily, warm pleasure radiating out from her clit as he slid two fingers against it. He chuckled, twisting his wrist and making her thighs tense. He really was very, very good at this...

“It was _supposed_ to be. But it turns out I’m absolutely, pathetically in love with you and I can’t help myself.”

“That’s _so_ lame,” she snorted and he nodded, almost solemnly, in agreement.

“So, so lame,” he agreed, getting closer and closer until he was kissing her, deeply. He rubbed slow, deliberate circles between her legs and her hips jerked up from the bed in search of more friction, breath catching in her throat. Chloe’s fingers tangled in the hair on the back of his head and she twisted her body towards him, helped by his free hand on the small of her back. In one easy movement, he dipped his hand lower- his cock twitching when he felt hot, slick wetness at his fingertips. Chloe gripped his forearm as he eased his fingers inside her, painfully slowly.

He barely registered any noise from downstairs, so engrossed was he in the hot body currently writhing under his touch.

It was a terrifying, bestial, baying howl that tore them both apart- Chloe's impending orgasm ripped away with a jolt.

The noise was followed by the slam of a door and an urgent shout of, “Mom! Lucifer! Come quickly!” that rang out from the bottom of the stairs. They stared at each other for a moment, a little dazed. When the realisation finally set in though, they scrambled from the bed and towards the door.

It was Lucifer who hit the landing first, leaving Chloe to pull her sidearm from where she kept it in the night stand. Che's howling was almost earsplitting, even from where they were and it would have been enough to rattle the eardrums of people down the street, let alone anyone nearby.

Chloe winced hard, but Lucifer was more than used to the sound and didn’t react. Instead it only seemed to spur him on and he was down the stairs in record time.

“Beatrice!?” 

Lucifer hated how full of fear his voice was but there was no point in pretending that he hadn’t almost had a heart attack when she’d screamed for them like that. She was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, her face pale as she gestured wildly towards her bedroom. He barely registered that he’d scooped her into his arms until she was wrapping a death grip around his throat.

“Bloody Hell child, what happened!?”

The living room was dark but light bled out from Trixie’s room from her bedside lamp.

It was clear she hadn’t been as asleep as they’d first thought.

“Trixie!? Baby, what’s wrong?” Chloe asked, breathless when she got to the bottom of the stairs and Lucifer guessed it wasn't from the short run down. Lucifer's tight hug eased a little bit now that Chloe had arrived and Trixie managed to stop almost choking him to death. He wondered if his awkward hug was helping in any way at all but still the child clung to him like a limpet while Che bayed angrily in the background.

“Che!” Lucifer hollered and the racket she was making quieted to a low, vicious growling instead. 

_My Lord! Quickly! Before they get away!_

Lucifer felt the blood drain from his face at Che's urgent request.

“Detective, take her for a moment.”

Chloe didn't ask questions as he handed Trixie to her and marched towards her bedroom like a man on a mission. He could hear the child's hard breathing begin to turn to hiccups behind him and the noise only seemed to spur him on faster. Che was still snarling at the window with an almost stubborn arrogance- like she was daring whatever had been there to come through. Lucifer made a low noise to get her attention and Che was at his heels immediately.

He unlatched the window and pulled himself through with a grace that belied the subtle shaking in his limbs. Che followed swiftly, hitting the ground almost silently next to him.

Fear was coursing through his veins like electricity. 

"Che. Go!" 

She _went_.

Racing through the bushes and the trees with Lucifer only a few feet behind. His heart pounded in time with hers, following the trail she left. Che kicked up dirt hard, weaving and winding through the thicket until she hit the chain link fence at the edge of the property. Lucifer arrived a moment later, skidding gracelessly to a stop with his fingers threading through the metal links. The sound of screeching tires registered somewhere in the back of his head. They were too late.

"Fuck!" he swore angrily. _"Fuck!"_

His temper was swiftly taken out on a nearby tree.

His shoulders rolled hard and he reeled his fist back, seconds before slamming it against the trunk. The pressure and ferocity that he put behind the punch split the wood with a great crack right up the middle and Che backed off swiftly, worried that it would fall towards them. But instead it swayed, buckling and groaning backwards and hit the ground with an almighty thump- leaves and dirt thrown up around it.

The silence that followed was broken only by Lucifer’s laboured breathing.

_Um… Master?_

Che's voice was soft, almost unsure, as she stared at his back. Breath heaving and muscles tense, Lucifer rounded to face her, his eyes red and blazing. Che whined, backing off a little more.

“What the Hell happened!?” he demanded.

Trixie was supposed to have been asleep and Che squirrelled away out of sight, so they could catch anyone stupid enough to intrude off guard. Instead, here he was, empty handed again with a child that had been scared out of her wits- and no doubt an angry Detective waiting for him when he got back.

It was a shambles from start to finish.

Che looked almost guilt stricken and he furrowed his brow when she refused to look at him, choosing to stare at the ground instead.

“Che!?” he said deliberately and she whimpered, ears flattening.

_I was distracted! The child couldn’t sleep... so I was making her laugh. She was talking to me about school and she must have spotted him before I did. My back was to the window and... Forgive me, my Lord. I shouldn't have been- I- I'm sorry. It’s not my place to become attached._

Lucifer exhaled through his nose, rubbing a hand through his hair. The absolute, infinite frustration that he felt was like a burning sensation in the middle of his chest and he didn't know how to get rid of it without beating the shit out of another tree.

So instead, he dug his fingers through his hair and fisted them. The pain was sharp and the sting of it brought an inhuman growl out of his throat. He loosened his grip after a moment, breathing hard.

Che looked harrowed, shoulders hunched and her head down in a display of submission before her King and Lucifer's stomach settled uncomfortably at the sight. 

Oh how he hated being bowed to.

He heaved a long, weary sigh and his back hit the cold metal fence as he slid tiredly down it. Reaching out, he beckoned her closer and then lay a hand between her ears. After a moment, she looked up at him, apparently surprised by the fact she wasn't being sent back to Hell immediately.

Like he ever could.

“Don’t concern yourself with it. You weren’t the only one who was distracted…” he said lowly, waving away her concern. It wasn’t as though he’d been paying much attention with his hand down the front of Chloe’s shorts. So much for breaking the news to her before she found out another way.

Bollocks.

Well, either way. Despite the trouble he might be in after this, it still wasn't Che’s fault that Trixie decided to pull an all-nighter. It wouldn’t be the first time himself or Chloe had come downstairs one morning and found her passed out with a book or a comic across her face and all the lights on. The child was no doubt a future insomniac and Lucifer blamed it on the amount of sugar she inhaled behind her mother’s back.

But he kept the age old adage that 'snitches end up in ditches' and so he kept quiet when they locked eyes in the middle of the night- her on her way back from raiding the cake in the fridge and him sneaking down the stairs for an overdue cigarette.

They had an understanding.

In spite of the chill in the air and the circumstances that led them out in the middle of the night, Lucifer found that he had to force away a smile at the thought.

“If Beatrice wants to do the bloody polka in the middle of the night with you then there isn't a force on earth that could stop her. Did she tell you anything interesting about her life or was it all mindbogglingly inane?”

Che seemed to brighten a little, knowing that she wasn't really at fault for the situation they found themselves in. 

_She, um, misses Mazikeen a lot. She likes a boy in her class called David because he has cool hair- although I didn't understand why the temperature of a human’s hair made them a suitable mate._

Lucifer might have cackled at the earnest confusion in her voice had the situation been different but as it were, he simply snorted instead. Sometimes he forgot how literal his demons could be. ‘I could kill for a scotch’ could be carnage if said in the wrong company. Next to him, Che was still listing the things Trixie had said while in the company of a silent partner who couldn't protest. 

_Oh. And her best friend, Noel, told her a joke about a chicken and a donkey that sounded utterly ludicrous. Donkey’s can’t talk, for a start and if they could-_

Lucifer sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he got to his feet. No doubt Chloe would be wondering where he was by now and Dad help him he didn't want her to worry any more than she probably already was. This was not going to be a fun conversation. 

“Bloody Hell, I really hope Maze is having more luck than we are,” he grunted. “This is the second night in a row. They’re either in a rush or they’re stupid.”

_What makes you say that?_

“Coming back three times in two days? Honestly I was hoping they might give up but it appears they’re more persistent than I first thought,” he huffed. It irked him that someone out there clearly had set their sights on Beatrice Decker and weren’t for giving up any time soon and it bothered him even more that they seemed so determined.

Granted, their return tonight might have been because they assumed Che was out of the equation.

“They must have thought that you were stupid enough to take the bait from earlier. More fool them,” he mused. They’d have gotten quite the fright when she started barking. That was something to cheer him up at least.

With no more to do than go and face the music, he whistled sharply and they made their way back through the night to the house.

-

He found Chloe comforting Trixie in the living room when he got back.

Che bounded up to her immediately, tail swinging wildly. Trixie’s eyes might have been a little redder than when he’d left through the window, but they still lit up at the sight of her dog and she threw her arms around Che’s neck like she never wanted to let her go.

“Anything?” Chloe asked, looking relieved to see him. She had wrapped one of his spare robes around her shoulders in his absence and Lucifer would be lying if he said it didn’t warm him from the inside out to see her in it. He moved through the room, winding an arm around her waist and pulling her against him.

He kissed the top of her head, his eyes closing.

“Not a thing,” he answered, trying to keep any irritation he felt out of his voice. “Whoever it was seems to have chosen life over grisly death by Devil and Co. Looks like Che scared them off.”

But probably not for good though.

Chloe nodded, probably having suspected as much. No-one was going to stick around for too long with a dog threatening to wake up half the population of Los Angeles. Lucifer could feel the ever so subtle tremor in her arms when he trailed his hands along them and he guessed that it wasn’t only Trixie that was shaken up about the whole thing.

“I called the Precinct,” she said, her expression hardening into cop mode for just a second. “They’ll send some Uni’s over in the morning but there isn’t much they can do now. Their words, not mine,” she grumbled.

Lucifer was staunchly aware that things were being spread thin at work. Several cops and detectives were still on administrative leave- suspected of being on the Sinnerman’s payroll. The rest who were still working were under the watchful eye of Internal Affairs and with the summer rolling in, thick and hot, crime was on the rise.

So there was little rush to send officers over for someone lurking outside of a window. _Especially_ not when it was the home of their best Detective and her equally as useful pet consultant.

Lucifer could feel her frustration at the dismissive way she’d been dealt with as though it was his own. It was now or never. He really didn’t want to do this but if he left it any longer then her reaction might be less than favourable towards him.

“Detective… I’ve been putting off telling you but…” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Chloe’s brow furrowed. That was guilty Lucifer talking. She could hear it in the thickness of his voice and the way he wouldn’t meet her eye. She took a glance at Trixie, and when she saw her looking at them both, she tugged him away and out of earshot.

“Telling me what?” she said, her tone suspicious. Lucifer tensed.

“Che informed me that there was someone lurking about last night as well.”

Chloe’s expression dropped hard and she pulled away from him like she’d been burned.

“What!? Please tell me you’re joking Lucifer. And not just about the fact you can talk to the _dog,_ ” she hissed, expression livid and he must have looked like a dear in headlights. Keeping her in the dark definitely hadn’t been the smartest idea he’d ever had- and he was about to pay the price for it.

“I’m afraid not, darling,” he said, his expression sheepish. “I just thought-”

“You _never_ think- you-,” she inhaled and cut herself off, scrubbing a hand over her face out of frustration. She whirled away from him, beginning to pace in that way she did whenever they had an argument. A heavy weight settled in his stomach. He desperately hated it when they fought- for any reason. It left him with an unshakeable feeling of dread, like everything he loved was going to disappear. “Lucifer, you can _not_ keep things like that from me! Especially not when it comes to my daughter! What were you thinking!?”

He chanced a step closer to her.

“I- I just wanted you to have _today_ Detective,” he said and swallowed hard to chase away the tremor in his voice. He must have looked absolutely pathetic though because her expression softened minutely. “I wanted you to have one good day before I had to tell you that something was wrong and then I was _going_ to tell you upstairs and you distracted me with- with,” he floundered, motioning to all of her with his hand.

When she scowled at him he groaned, looking livid with his mouth for running away from him. Not the best idea to blame her for distracting him. It wasn’t as though he’d tried to fend her off. Quite the opposite.

Fuck he hated fighting. Hated the look of disappointment. The mounting fear. They could argue over where to eat for dinner and he would still feel it. Like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. When she would realise that he was more trouble that he was worth, take her daughter and leave him all alone again.

He sucked in a hitching, shaky breath.

“I’m sorry. I’m _so_ sorry darling. I screwed up again, didn’t I?” he asked, his voice very small. If there was one thing that he feared, deep down, behind all of his bravado and humour and sarcasm- it was screwing up so badly that she didn’t want him any more.

“Yeah,” she sighed softly. “You screwed up.”

But it wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last. His attempt to keep her oblivious and happy was nothing though, in the face of the concern she now had that someone was spying on them. Her daughter specifically. Especially after all the suspicions she’d had about Harry.

Thankfully, Che had been guarding her last night or who knows what would have happened.

Lucifer’s decision to keep it from her, no matter how briefly was stupid- there was no doubt about it. But at least his big, dumb heart had been in the right place. She could never doubt him over that. He was wringing his hands now and Chloe finally took pity on him. It really did nothing for her hard ass image when she couldn’t even stay mad at him for five minutes.

“Hey, it’s alright,” she said, her voice soft. She rested her hand on his forearm, tugging on it until he raised his head to meet her eye. “It wasn’t your best decision ever but I understand why you made it.”

“You do?”

Chloe shook her head, moving into his embrace. Lucifer almost went boneless under her touch. If it wasn’t for him and Che, then who knew what she would be going through today? So yes, she understood, despite his methods and secrets- it was always done with her best interest at heart.

“Yeah. But no more secrets, okay? That’s not how relationships work, Lucifer. You can’t be the all knowing protector, all of the time. It’s not good to have so much weight on your shoulders. We do it _together_. Agreed?” she cupped his cheek and her eyes fluttered shut when he rested his forehead against hers. Despite the feeling of guilt still gnawing at him, he accepted her limitations without question. He was just relieved that the immediate argument was over.

“Agreed, Chloe. No more secrets, you have my word,” he stressed, pressing a kiss to the end of her nose. She smiled. “How about the urchin sleeps with us tonight?” he suggested after a long moment of simply enjoying her closeness.

It had been the inevitable outcome anyway but this at least saved them from the farcical song and dance of Chloe pretending to persuade him and him giving in after pretending to be annoyed. Tonight was a different situation anyway. He wasn’t leaving Trixie alone at night again until he, Maze and Che hunted down the responsible parties.

Chloe’s blue eyes shone with unspoken gratitude and Lucifer breathed a sigh, knowing he wasn’t completely inept sometimes. She turned to Trixie- who had been pretending not to listen in the entire time. She was making like she'd been fussing around Che, but Lucifer could see her glancing quickly between himself and her mother, eyes searching much like his had been when he'd witnessed his parents arguing. Although... his and Chloe's fights had yet to tear down a galaxy...

“What do you say Trix? Do you want to sleep with us tonight?” Chloe's question broke his train of thought and Trixie looked all too relieved.

Over the past few months, her requests to sleep in their bed during the night had waned until they were a rarity. She said she wanted to feel more like a grown up and for some reason that was unfathomable to Lucifer, that meant sleeping alone as much as possible- even after a nightmare. But it seemed that tonight had rattled her more than she was letting on though. She practically jumped at the chance offered to her, glad she didn’t have to ask for it herself. She nodded eagerly, one arm still around Che.

“Go on then. It’s getting late,” Lucifer prompted lowly, herding both of his girls towards the stairs. He didn't meet Chloe's eye the entire time though, tension still running high despite her apparent forgiveness.

Even though she wouldn't be alone, Trixie seemed reluctant to leave the warm, comforting light of the living room. Lucifer sensed her hesitation. He clicked his tongue at Che and she padded towards the bottom of the stairs, head cocked.

“Tell you what, gremlin,” Lucifer said, shoving Trixie playfully so she stumbled. He was rewarded with a laugh and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chloe breathe a sigh of relief. His stomach twisted itself into a knot and back again but he forced himself to focus his attention back on Trixie. “Che and I will stay up for a while and make sure nothing is amiss, how about that?”

Trixie nodded, mollified at the prospect of both Lucifer and Che standing guard until she fell asleep.

“Yeah okay,” she answered, turning her chin up bravely. Lucifer simply shoved her again and she bumped into her mother’s leg, forcing a laugh out of her at long last. “Jerk face,” she informed him- but it was said affectionately.

“Horrid goblin,” he replied and Trixie grinned back at him, pleased with their back and forth. With another nod, she turned and bounded up the stairs towards the bedroom- apparently no more traumatised than she would have been on a school night.

Chloe turned to him when she was gone, something unreadable in her eyes.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re a natural with children?” she said after a moment, her tone sly and despite the lingering aftermath of their argument, Lucifer balked comically at the insinuation as though she’d called him something vile. Like she’d accused him of wearing a store bought suit, or something else just as heinous.

“Horrible, detestable _lies_ , wench,” he refuted and then swatted her ass when she turned away, out of sheer habit.

“Hey!”

Her objection wasn't angry or irritated but he flinched all the same, having forgotten himself in the moment.

“Sorry, darling," he said sheepishly. Father help him, he was a weak man when Chloe Decker was angry. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to get back into her good books. Chloe just shook her head, exasperated. "I couldn't help myself. Can I use the forbidden fruit metaphor or would that be too on the nose?"

“A little,” she said, lips quirking in the hint of a smile. "Don't stay away too long, okay Satan?"

Lucifer nodded and Chloe turned away, ascending the stairs to deal with Trixie. Lucifer watched her go, longing to follow her but bound by the promise he’d made. So he turned away to the darkened living room and looked for something that would keep him busy for a while. In the end, he brewed some coffee- made it a little Irish with the whiskey that Chloe had picked up for him and watched some mundane television show, interlaced with Che’s increasingly intrigued commentary. It helped to take his mind off of the reason he was sitting up in the first place.

Maze would no doubt give him something useful tomorrow and by the time she got back, he would be ready to go on the hunt. Despite Chloe’s warning that he couldn’t be the all powerful protector all of the time… he _couldn’t_ leave this one alone.

Not when it was his family at stake.

Eventually, his anxiety got the better of him and he retired to bed- the urge to be near Chloe trumping the trepidation he felt at thinking about their argument again. Her proximity did more than just make him vulnerable these days. It kept him grounded, kept him _sane _.__ He remembered a period, a long time ago, when he’d vehemently refuted the fact that he was enjoying domesticity.

A top hat, through and through.

But that had been long ago when he was foolish. Lucifer was a shoe and he was proud of it.

Che padded up the stairs behind him and followed when he slipped into the bedroom. He didn’t protest. She might as well, seeing as they already had a full bed tonight any way. Trixie was sleeping soundly, curled against her mother.

Chloe wasn’t asleep though and she lifted her head when he opened the door. She flashed him a tired smile and even with bed head and sleepy eyes, she was the most breathtaking thing Lucifer had ever seen. She motioned for him to join them and he didn’t refuse the offer, pleased that he was still allowed in the bed at least. He was tired and a little on edge and all he wanted to do was slip in next to her and sleep for a thousand years.

He folded the shirt he’d put on downstairs, leaving the pajama bottoms and then spooned himself around her back. She immediately slotted herself against him under the covers, seeking out the warm line of his body.

“Are you alright darling?” he asked, his voice low and soft to keep from waking Trixie. She nodded, relishing the stroke of his palm along her bare arm. Despite having her here in his arms and the forgiveness she’d offered earlier, their argument still weighed heavily in the back of his mind. Never one to let things fester- at least, not with her- Lucifer sighed.

“I really can’t apologise enough about keeping this from you, I hope you know that. It was never my intention to put the child at risk. She was never, ever in any danger. Not with me and Che here,” he offered, while his thumb rubbed soft circles on her upper arm. The lump lodged in his throat was horrid but he needed to know that she really did forgive him. 

Chloe shifted in his embrace but she didn’t turn around.

“I know that,” she said after a long moment of silence. “And I _promise_ , I’m not mad at you, okay? Trixie and I had a great day today and I wouldn’t have had that if I’d have been worrying. Are you still freaking out that I got angry at you?” 

She knew. Of course she did. She could see through him in an instant and had an uncanny ability to pick out all of insecurities. Lucifer didn’t answer, choosing to nod instead. If he didn’t talk about it now, then he would be thinking about it for the next week. His head wouldn't be in the game.

“Oh Luce,” she sighed and her hand came up to his, lacing their fingers together. “Babe, one fight isn’t going to make me stop loving you, you know. That’s not how this works. Sometimes, people screw up- even when they have good intentions. And yours were good. They always are. I know you’d never do anything to put us at risk, ever.” The uncomfortable knot of tension between his shoulders eased ever so slightly when she said that. He buried his face in her hair, kissing her. He tucked his legs under hers, draped his arm around her stomach and pulled her as close as possible.

“It was still foolish. You’ve just been so happy lately, Detective. I’m not sure _why_ exactly but I wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. I never want you to have to worry about anything,” he admitted, hugging her tight. Sometimes he got so caught up in wanting to make her happy that he missed the bigger picture. “You mean the world to me and I want you to always be as happy as you’ve been in the past few months, no matter the cause.”

Chloe frowned, brow furrowing. She _had_ been uncharacteristically happy lately. Smiling all the time. Singing to herself. Enjoying life, and enjoying work with equal intensity. She’d seen the soft side of the Devil and it had _done_ something to her. Made life seem so much more vibrant than it used to be.

“Lucifer… has it never occurred to you why I’ve been so happy?” she murmured, playing with his fingers lazily. Lucifer hummed noncommittally against her hair, shrugging.

“Not a clue, love.”

Chloe’s mouth dropped open. He really didn’t have a notion? Not a single one? He thought that one day she’d just decided to be upbeat about life again, after Charlotte and The Sinnerman debacle? She turned in his arms abruptly and Lucifer had to move back a bit before she accidentally kneed him in the gut. Once was enough today, thank you very much. She collapsed gracelessly against him, hand on his chest and her thigh slotting between his.

“Holy shit, you’re really serious aren’t you?” she said, eyes searching his face which was mere millimetres away from hers. Lucifer pulled a face, shrugging again, absolutely oblivious.

“Haven’t the foggiest. All I know is that you’re happier than I think I’ve ever seen you and I want to do my utmost to keep it that way. Any tips you could give me would be greatly appreciated darling,” he beamed at long last, his eyes kind and warm and Chloe was inches away from just kissing the life out of him until he got the full picture. 

But knowing him, that could take hours. Better to take the more direct approach.

“You don’t think that my mood might have a connection with anything that’s happened recently?” Chloe asked him slowly, giving him a look that told him she was waiting for him to catch on to something. Lucifer was stumped though. He really didn't have a clue. He wracked his brain for a long, long moment- still staring at her like an absolute dunce until she spoke again. “Something that I have in my life now?” she prompted. 

“You’ve… gotten a new…”

Chloe raised her eyebrows expectantly, looking hopeful that he was on the right track at last. Lucifer on the other hand, took a shot in the dark.

“Car?”

Chloe couldn’t help herself. She snorted loudly before remembering their guest for the night and muffled her laughter against his neck instead. Through her manic giggles, she slid her arm under his in a hug and pressed herself close to his chest, still laughing. The only thing left for Lucifer to do was hold on to her and look exceptionally confused. Maybe she was broken? Maybe she’d hit her head-

“It’s _you!_ You absolute moron,” she said suddenly, pulling her head back. Her amused gaze met his incredibly bemused one and he had to stop himself from cocking his head to one side much like Che would. He looked adorably lost.

“Me?” he said slowly, testing the water. “I'm not sure I follow. I didn’t buy you a car-”

“Lucifer babe,” she said, cutting him off. He shut up for once and Chloe was glad because he needed to hear this. He needed to know that he was the cause of someone else’s happiness. That he brought joy to someone’s life. He wasn’t some burden that she put up with because he was great in bed or had lots of money. “ _You_ are the reason that I’ve been smiling more lately. Because I have a boyfriend who always has my back and who loves me, despite how cranky I am. Who loves my daughter even though he professes to hate children. Who is sweet and kind and wonderful, Devil side and all.”

She cupped his face and kissed him, slowly. His heart was pounding in his ears and his voice was no-where to be found and he was a little glad because it would have cracked embarrassingly if he’d spoken.

“I love you,” she reminded him firmly. “Even when we fight, or when I’m angry at you… that doesn’t change, okay?”

He nodded dumbly, looking absolutely shell shocked by this apparently new information. Instead of speaking, he simply gathered her in his arms and squeezed her tight. Chloe smiled against his shoulder, pressing a kiss against his warm skin and accepting his touch without hesitation. She moved into it, showing him that without a doubt, her feelings for him weren't going to change at the drop of a hat. 

“Go to sleep now, darling,” he said, his voice thick but calmer than it had been. “You’re perfectly safe with us here.”

"I know," she replied firmly, settling in his embrace. No doubt they would find themselves too warm some time in the night but she didn't want to pull away and he didn't want to let her go, so they would just have to endure the consequences for now.

The other half of ‘us’ made herself known suddenly, giving a soft snort from the foot of the bed. Lucifer felt Chloe laugh against him again and mourned the fact that he couldn’t see her smile with her face buried against his neck- so he made up for it by kissing the crown of her head. Trixie mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep, kicking her leg out suddenly and flopping over onto her back.

“Maybe not so safe from the child’s incessant tossing and turning though,” he grumbled, eyes feeling heavy despite his racing thoughts. But one was more prominent than the rest. Chloe still loved him and that wasn't going to change any time soon. He believed her, in spite of all of his insecurities telling him otherwise. Everything was fine.

He knew perfectly well that they would wake up in the morning barely hanging on to the side of the bed as Trixie star-fished out but even that couldn't sour the sudden content mood that washed over him.

Such was his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's that? You want some actual smut?
> 
> Well buckle up bitches because Chapter 8 is gonna quench those thirsty asses like nobodies business!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lordy, sorry about the wait. It's been a very... frustrating week and a half? Lots of things happened that just required my attention and didn't leave me much room or energy for editing a chapter. To make it up to you all though, there'll be two chapters posted this week- with the second smutty interlude probably arriving on Friday.

****Chapter Seven** **

The next morning, Chloe called Dan and let him know what had happened. He cursed the fact that he was pulling a double- yet again. Even over the phone, Chloe could sense the guilt in his voice when he began to apologise for not being there when they needed him.

It used to be such a sore spot for them, long ago when they were still trying to hold on to their wreck of a marriage. When they told themselves the lie that they would work it out. Dan putting work before his family was the straw that broke the camel's back. But those old wounds had long since healed and Chloe knew that this time, it really wasn’t in his hands. He wasn't working to avoid a family meal or yet another argument.

“I’d have been there in a heartbeat Chlo,” he said grumpily, sounding irritated at himself even over the phone. Chloe smiled wanly, already well aware that he would have. Dan grumbled softly after a long pause, clearly trying to keep his voice down. “Ever since Monroe came back, she’s been riding my ass. I haven’t had a moment to breathe and-”

“Dan! Dan, I know. It’s _okay_ ,” Chloe soothed. “Trix had a bit of a scare but she’s feeling better. She’s already watching Steven Universe and asking Lucifer when he plans to hold the first Presidential Elections on Mars.”

Dan laughed loudly before he cut himself off with a thought.

"He... he can't actually do that, right?"

It was Chloe's turn to laugh then, covering her mouth with her hand before she attracted too much attention. If Lucifer had _made_ the planet's in the sky then technically he owned them, right? So he could hold whatever election he wanted... Images of Trixie in a spacesuit assaulted Chloe's mind and she quickly cut that train of thought off dead. Probably not wise to mention any of that to her overeager child _or_ boyfriend.

"Not that I know of, no."

"Oh. Shame."

There was something so pleasant about the equilibrium between them now. Dan had forced himself to accept that Lucifer was now a part of Chloe’s life and by extension- Trixie's. After their enlightening chat about Charlotte's current whereabouts, Dan had softened towards him and the tentative friendship they'd been building for ages, started back up again. Much to her relief. It no longer seemed to bother him, knowing that Lucifer was there most mornings or during difficult situations, when he couldn't be.

It was just another way that their family dynamic had changed lately.

“Olivia sent a uni by this morning to take a statement but there’s nothing else they can really do. Or at least, that’s what he _told_ me. If that rookie's attitude is the way he treats everyone who gives him a statement, he'll be lucky to have a job come August.”

A very bored, very young cop had swung by at seven to take her statement- looking as though he wanted to be anywhere else. He'd refused Chloe's offer to come inside and then sighed impatiently all the way through her story. It was only when she'd mentioned that she was technically his superior that he'd almost dropped his notepad and started paying attention. But the damage had been done and she'd shooed him away irritably instead, telling him she would do it herself when she returned to work the next day.

Dan grunted, apparently just as annoyed about it as she was. If these were the cops left after the clear out by Internal Affairs, then how were they treating ordinary civilians? She could only shudder to think.

“Figures, with all of our resources going to breaking up leftover Sinnerman bullshit.”

The contempt in his voice was palpable. With the Department throwing themselves into sorting out the shit storm of the last few months, it was no wonder that prowlers were suddenly low on the list of priorities. So, the professional in her knew the _why_ of the matter, but the maternal part of her that had been scared for her daughter last night still felt stung by the slight.

Shared laughter drew her attention for a moment, to her boyfriend and her daughter- heads bent together as they colluded on something that would no doubt make a mess. Or set something on fire. Chloe chewed on her lip in a vain attempt to at least slow the stupid grin spreading over her face.

“Lucifer says he’s on it, if that makes you feel any better.”

It certainly made _her_ feel better. Having the Devil on side was certainly something that made her breathe a little easier when things seemed out of her hands. People underestimated him because to them, he was just another lowly human. Knowing that he was a bulletproof, immortal mighty angel of the Lord when she was out of range was… comforting. Although she'd never tell him so.

Still, sometimes she had to remind herself not to rely on their secret too much. As much as he liked to think it of himself, Lucifer wasn’t omnipotent and it was unfair to ask so much of him- even if he genuinely enjoyed being useful.

“You know what?” Dan said, lowering his voice again. No doubt he was bent over his desk, pretending to do paperwork while he called her instead. “If you ever tell him this, I’ll totally never forgive you but… it kinda does? I dunno. Better the Devil you know, right?” He sounded far too pleased at his own joke. Chloe snorted and rolled her eyes, all the while in wonderment at how far her ex-husband had come in a few short years.

“Pretty sure he’d punch you if he heard you say that.”

They shared a laugh before Dan’s voice became muffled again and she waited patiently for him to finish whatever he was pretending to do under Monroe's watchful gaze. He came back on the line a moment later.

“Sorry about that. Hey, is your mom still in town?” Dan asked and Chloe exhaled, disappointed. She’d been hoping for a day without thinking about her mother and that unsettling man that she’d brought to meet the family. No such luck. It had been the only thing on her mind all morning- especially with the unshakeable feeling that he’d had something to do with last nights shenanigans- not to mention the night before that.

Chloe pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek. The worst part was not having any proof other than her own gut feeling. While Lucifer might take that as Gospel, she doubted it would hold up in a court of law.

Even her database search had turned up nothing on him- or any possible aliases. He was the Police Force equivalent of squeaky clean. He'd never even turned up a parking ticket- although he had mentioned that he'd never visited the area before. Whether he meant Los Angeles or California itself, Chloe hadn't bothered to ask and she was kicking herself for not doing so. At least she might have been able to scrounge a few more searches from other precincts across the state. 

“Uh, yeah. She’s here until Friday- or so she says. You know what my mom’s like,” she said, attempting to lighten her own mood. Dan laughed on the end of the line, clearly _more_ than aware of what Penelope was like. “She’ll see an ad for the Bahamas on TV and book a flight the same day.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” he agreed, a wistful tone to his voice. Whether it was for the good old days when they laughed at her mom together or for the Bahamas, Chloe didn’t know- nor did she ask.

“Listen, I just talked to Hardy a couple of seconds ago. He said he’ll finish my files for me, so I have a free hour for lunch today. What do you say I take Trix for ice cream? Meet this Che I’ve heard so much about?”

Chloe smiled, pleased.

“That sounds great. I’ll let her know. But be warned, you’ll have to find a dog friendly place. I don’t think Che wants to let Trix out of her sight for a second.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dan said, clearly amused at the thought of his daughter and some cute little dinky dog trotting around at her heels. She might have to intervene before he left, just to bring him up to speed on the Do's and the Oh-God-Don't!'s of owning a Hellhound. Maybe she'd freak him out too, just for her own amusement she thought wickedly. She was really spending too much time with Lucifer.

She sensed that Dan's attention was drifting back to work so she bid him goodbye, with the promise to pick Trixie up in a few hours and arrange the school run for the week while he was at it.

With that, all thoughts of telling Dan that Che ate people's souls if they looked at her funny, vanished, and a cold sense of dread settled like a lead weight in Chloe’s stomach.

School meant that Trixie wouldn’t be under the watchful eye of herself and Lucifer for at least a few hours and after that absolute _fiasco_ with Malcolm, the school’s promised higher security did little to dispel her gnawing worry. Lucifer, oddly enough, had seemed unconcerned when she’d mentioned it earlier that morning though. He’d simply pointed to Che, as though Chloe was being terribly dense. Chloe didn't have another moment to dwell on it though.

The man in question sat up suddenly, phone in hand- staring intently at the screen as though he was about to go through it. Trixie was still engrossed in the adventures of the Crystal Gems and so she didn’t protest when her breakfast buddy suddenly hopped the back of the couch and made for the back door.

“Luce, babe?” Chloe called after him questioningly, brow furrowed in confusion.

He flashed her a dazzling smile, shaking his phone in her direction.

“Just Mazikeen, darling. Won’t be a moment.”

Chloe didn’t comment on how pale he suddenly looked, or the strained edges of his smile. She simply nodded and let him go without any more questions. The door clicked shut behind him and she leaned back against the island, sipping her coffee. He would no doubt tell her what he was up to when he came back, especially considering their argument the night before. 

But at the end of the day, good, bad, in between…If whatever Lucifer was up to was keeping her daughter from harm?

Then she agreed with Dan.

Better the Devil you know.

-

Lucifer stared at the photo that Maze had sent him alongside the question, _‘Is this the same guy?’_

The picture was indeed of Harry with an older woman at some high priced restaurant that Lucifer didn’t recognise- which was unusual for him. The front of the building had a sort of a Rococo look to it. Very ornate, classy. Something you’d find hidden away in the guts of Rome, where you’d pay top money for a side salad. 

Harry was smiling from ear to ear and so was the woman- dark haired, dark skinned and very much the picture of a refined beauty. Beside them, a boy no older than six with big brown eyes was beaming as well, looking up at his grandmother without an inkling of what was to come. He wore a suit with a little red cravat that matched his grandmother’s evening gown- and the biggest gut punch of them all was that she was looking back at him, pride exuding out of every pore.

Lucifer’s stomach jolted uncomfortably and he instantly regretted that bloody omelette.

He sent a quick, _‘yes’_ back, before taking a long, steadying breath. It did nothing to calm his nerves. It could just be a coincidence. After all, it was hardly illegal to have a relationship before moving on to someone else. It wasn't a crime to be a bit of a player- even at Harry's age. Everything in Lucifer that had been wanting to be right about him, about this charming weirdo that Penelope had brought to their doorstep like a stray, now longed to be wrong instead. He hadn't thought about the consequences that would come alongside it.

He stared hard at the picture, like staring at it would give him more information. But when he saw nothing else of note, he dropped his head to hit the wall behind him. Cigarette smoke hung heavily in the air and he mindlessly wafted it away- aware that the Detective wasn’t the biggest fan of the smell. But he’d needed something for his nerves the moment that picture had arrived in his messages.

How Maze had even found it, he’d never know, but this was definitely the man currently ‘ _dating_ ’ the Detective’s mother and his worst fears were slowly coming true.

His phone pinged again.

It was another photograph, this time of Harry with a young Caucasian woman. Yet again, strikingly beautiful, with freckles so dense they almost hid the pale skin underneath and auburn hair that reached her waist. His arm was slung over her shoulders in a show of familiarity. Between them stood a girl of about twelve, clutching her phone and looking bored, like she wanted to be anywhere else as all almost teenagers did. Her shock of red hair was short but brighter than her mothers and Lucifer could only guess that it was the girl’s grandmother behind the camera.

Both Harry and the woman were giving thumbs up to the camera and the sign in the background read _‘Welcome to the Giant’s Causeway!’_

That particular landmark was in Northern Ireland- a place Lucifer had visited several times, mainly when the Aes Sídhe got a bit too rowdy and needed a stern lecture. Or someone to drink with. That said, meetings with the Faire Folk never went the way he thought they would...

All this told him was that Harry was quite the traveller, as he'd proclaimed to be. 

But then another photo came and then another and another, until Lucifer had to tell Maze to stop sending them- he got the picture. Literally. All of them showed Harry with different women, in different places and with different children. Each one was oddly striking in their own way, with physical features and attributes that stood out in one way or another like they’d been picked to order by some higher power.

The very things that made them unique had clearly painted a target on their back at the same time. Maze was quick to assure him that he'd been right, much to his anguish. So much for Harry just being a player.

__‘_ They’re all missing, Lucifer. Some of these are from _years _ago. Most of the cases have been closed now.’_

“Shit,” he muttered, flicking his cigarette away and wiping the back of his hand over his suddenly dry mouth. _“Shit.”_

_‘Where did you find these?’_

Lucifer had apparently wrongly assumed that Maze would still be on the plane. It was a good twenty something hour flight from Krasnoyarsk to Los Angeles and there was only so much she could have gathered from her phone alone. But then again, this was Mazikeen he was dealing with. Give her a paperclip and a bottle of scotch and she could break into the White House. He doubted that it had taken her much effort at all. Maze took a moment to reply, clearly still searching through her findings.

_‘There's a four hour layover in Moscow. I stole a guys laptop, contacted some friends. There are lots of missing children in the world Lucifer. It wouldn’t have taken me as long if the search was in one country. Facebook is a Hell of a thing, did you know that? Your tip off about Venice helped a lot too. He doesn't use an alias either. Must be super cocky. I can't wait to impale him on something.’_

__

Lucifer ignored that. Maze would just have to get in line for a crack at this guy. A heavy feeling of dread settle over him like a thundercloud, oppressive and dark. The Detective had been right when she’d had a bad feeling about Harry Fisher but Lucifer doubted she knew just how right. Not only was he clearly a serial child abductor- who did Father knows what else to the little mites as well, but he was an arrogant one. Going from country to country, not even bothering to change his name because why would he? The police were probably busy chasing whoever he was working with- while he played the innocent bystander.

He was the one who set the target and pulled the trigger but kept his hands clean of the mess it made.

Lucifer inhaled hard through his nose, clenching his teeth together so he wouldn't lose his breakfast on the front porch. Bloody Hell Dad, he thought bitterly. What are you allowing your creations to become? They're eating each other alive down here while you fret about their souls in your ivory tower.

All of those poor women were now mourning the loss of grandchildren when they’d already lost so much. They’d been used. Used as an in to get to the children they cherished and now the same thing was happening to _Chloe’s_ mother. 

That made it very personal.

Lucifer wondered maybe if those families had had someone who cared about them like Chloe did, would they still be together? All his Father had to do was say... no. No, I won't allow you to hurt these people. Flick him into non-existence like an ant under a boot. But he didn't and those children that his Dad professed to love, languished and suffered for nothing.

Just like his son had.

Lucifer stifled his own rage for now though. This wasn't about him. Blaming his Father would get him no-where. It was, in the end, Harry who had charmed his way into Penelope’s life when she’d probably been having a low moment. The way _any_ predator would. Wealthy, beautiful Penelope Decker, who bragged about her brave daughter toanyone who would listen. Who flaunted pictures of Trixie like she was simply the most amazing thing in creation because to her, she was.

Who still, deep down, smarted from the death of the only man she’d ever really loved and tried desperately to fill the void he'd left, in any way she could.

No-one would call Penelope vulnerable in a million years but Lucifer wasn’t blind. Not any more. Not now that he had the same thing that she once had. That love that did something to your soul and fuck, you didn't know what it was but it made you burn brighter. Brighter than the stars he'd put in the bloody sky. It made them pale in comparison. Made him wax lyrical like some pathetic poet, lost to fucking love. He didn’t know what he would do when Chloe left him to go to a place he couldn’t follow.

Would he seek to ease the pain like Penelope did?

Lucifer lit up another cigarette out of sheer habit and inhaled slowly, savouring the sharpness of the nicotine.

It didn’t bear thinking about now. Not when his love was happy and alive and only a few feet away. So he shook away the morbid thoughts that too often plagued him and focused instead on the problem at hand.

The big question turned into, not was Harry a predator- but was Harry working _alone?_ A year ago, Lucifer wouldn’t have stopped to even think about something like that. He would have confronted Harry without a second thought and considered the matter dealt with.

The situation with Cain had changed his approach to things. At least where it involved the people he cared about. 

Now it seemed that killing a weed sometimes caused more problems than it solved. The roots below lived on and more sprouted in it’s place. Sometimes _worse_ than before- and so the cycle would continue on almost uninterrupted, on and on and all that would mean would be more children falling prey to Father knows who. A man like this rarely worked by himself.

Harry clearly had a buyer somewhere. Probably _several_. 

He’d established a pattern, wide spread enough to not arouse too much suspicion unless you knew what and who you were looking for. These women were so far apart geographically (and Lucifer suspected, differing in social class) that the man even felt comfortable not using an alias. After all, who would suspect the grandmother’s doting boyfriend? The man who was comforting her and offering to help search for their missing grandchild? A man who could probably emotionally manipulate his target without breaking a sweat and come out on the other side looking like a Saint.

Who would end things months down the line when it wouldn’t look suspicious any more, leaving the ashes of a family in his wake. Lucifer heard his phone give an almost pained groan and he loosened his grip before he snapped it.

Harry had to have at least one or two powerful contacts or he couldn’t have flown under the radar this long. Even if they brought him in... would they be able to do anything about it? Would his 'friends' post his bail and have him bundled out of the city in the dead of night, never to be seen again? So he could go on, finding children and tearing them from their families?

Father help him, the human justice system needed a massive bloody overhaul. They really should leave the punishments up to him sometimes.

He and Mazikeen would set up some surveillance when her plane touched down. It was at least a place to start. Normally he wouldn’t hesitate to call in a favour- have an off the books Private Investigator follow Harry until he found out every thing he needed.

That was out of the question though. This was clearly a very clever man he was dealing with, not some low level drug dealer or murder suspect who could barely tie their own shoes. It wasn’t a situation that either himself or Mazikeen could simply detach themselves from and send someone else to do the dirty work. 

Harry had bewitched innocent families around the world and then destroyed them from the inside out. Then he'd had most likely stuck around, revelling in the chaos he’d created. Lucifer’s eyes flashed red and he didn’t bother turning them back, such was his anger. The cigarette in his hand turned to ash.

Then one day, Harry had chanced upon Penelope Decker. Kindhearted, sad eyed and so ready to be _loved_ again- even if it was just for a moment.

In doing so, Harry Fisher had signed his own death warrant. 

-

“Detective, a word if you please,” Lucifer said, the moment he stepped back inside. Chloe looked up from her coffee and Trixie from the TV screen, in alarm. He must have looked a sight.

“Um... you look kinda pale Lucifer. Are you okay?” Trixie asked, her little eyebrows furrowed as she searched his face. If she was suddenly ignoring Steven Universe then he _must_ look ghastly, he pondered fondly. He mustered up a smile in her direction, appreciative of her concern- but he suddenly he couldn’t shake the horrid feeling he got when she smiled back.

Big brown eyes, dark skin. An absolutely breathtaking smile that almost exactly matched her mothers.

Lucifer felt violated at the very thought of someone like Harry looking at this little girl and seeing something other than that when she smiled. Were these the things that some disgusting pervert had desired from the moment they saw her picture? He felt like he needed a shower at the mere thought.

He almost lost his breath as he stalked past the couch and grabbed Chloe gently by the upper arm, dragging her behind him towards the kitchen despite her protests. He rounded on her the moment they were as far away from the couch as possible and shoved his phone into her hand, ignoring her irritation at being manhandled in her own house.

“Why do I have your phone?”

“Look at it," he said, his voice tight. "I believe that this will confirm your suspicions darling.”

Frowning, Chloe looked away from him to the phone in her hand. With a sense of mounting dread, Lucifer watched the colour drain from her face as she swiped through photo after photo. Her hand went to her mouth after a moment, when realisation struck hard and she slumped back against the counter- coffee sloshing onto the kitchen floor.

“Oh no. _No_. Are- Are they-?”she asked, her question unfinished but hanging heavy in the air no less. Her voice wavered when she spoke because she already knew the answer. Moving in front of her to keep her away from Trixie's prying eyes, Lucifer nodded slowly and Chloe dragged in a shaky breath, dropping her head against his chest in a silent request for comfort. He brought an arm up around her back, pulling her into his embrace. “I didn’t want to be right. Not this time,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt and Lucifer couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. 

“I know,” he replied softly, pressing a kiss to her hair.

Even though Lucifer had blocked her view, Trixie was an observant child and noticed the sudden tension in the air and her mothers sudden change of mood. She glanced down at Che, who didn't seem particularly worried but all the same, she turned away from the TV. She hadn't been paying it much attention anyway, too busy trying to eavesdrop. 

“Mom? Are you alright?” she asked, draping herself over the back of the couch and staring at them. Lucifer didn’t have an answer for her. Chloe pulled back from his arms though and steadied her breathing- despite the desire to just curl up against him further. It wouldn't help to have Trixie worrying as well as them. She hated dragging her daughter's mood down.

“It’s nothing baby. I’m just not feeling too good. Bad coffee I think,” Chloe said, stepping out from where she'd been hidden behind Lucifer's broad frame. But her comforting words didn't match her voice.

"Okay, why are you both being so weird this morning?" Trixie narrowed her eyes, apparently blessed with being able to sniff out a lie almost as easily as Chloe could. She cocked her head to the side, looking between Lucifer and then her mom, back and forth several times. Suddenly, she glanced down to Chloe’s stomach and then back to her face, eyes going wide.

“You’re not having a baby are you?”

Had Lucifer been drinking, he would have choked but the out-of-nowhere accusation seemed to lighten Chloe’s mood and she smiled, laughing a little- both at Trixie’s question and Lucifer's horrified expression. It was always just like Trixie to somehow ease her mother’s turmoil, all while sending Lucifer into cardiac arrest. He was staring at her like she’d said something deeply offensive. This was just like the marriage incident from a few months ago, although Chloe suspected that his horror had been more at the word 'church' than at the idea of marriage.

“No, monkey. I’m not having a baby.”

Lucifer was still struck dumb, unable to form words for the second time in a few days. The first time had been far more enjoyable.

“Not yet…” Trixie singsonged, levelling her gaze at Lucifer and that pulled a peal of laughter out of Chloe. The Devil was far less amused however, his face losing whatever colour it had left.

“Abso-bloody-lutely _not_!” he managed to say, completely unnecessarily. If his voice was a pitch too high, no-one mentioned it but Trixie looked at him deviously. The little sewer rat knew exactly what she was doing, he thought, glaring at her. “You’re not too big to flush down the toilet, you know,” he threatened lowly but Trixie merely stuck her tongue out at him. Chloe intervened before Lucifer could make good on his threat.

“Babe, stop poking the bear okay?” Chloe gave her a pointed look and Trixie stopped making faces at him. Chloe patted Lucifer's arm softly and he too backed down, but with much more grumbling about revenge than she would like. All the same, she doubted he would go through with it. She turned back to her daughter, who was giving them both a devious grin that she could only have gotten from her father. “Will you do me a favour and go get dressed? I have to call Grandma about something super important.”

Trixie’s eyes lit up and she let out an excited gasp.

“Am I going to the beach with her and Harry?”

She'd been asking about it ever since Penelope had called the day before. Lucifer turned away, busying himself with cleaning dishes instead of looking thunderous at the thought of Trixie even saying Harry's name. All the child wanted to do was spend time with her grandmother and she couldn’t, because she was being manipulated by a predator. Chloe noticed him, furiously cleaning a plate and looked back at her daughter’s hopeful face.

“No sweetheart, I’m sorry. Grandma had to cancel,” she said softly and Trixie deflated noticeably, her expression dropping.

“Oh.”

Lucifer despised the disappointment in the child’s voice. It made him uncomfortable for reasons he couldn't fathom.

“But, the _good_ news is, your dad is coming by in his lunch break to take you for ice cream,” Chloe said and to her relief, Trixie's gasp was of excitement this time, thrilled by the turn of events. She loved spending time with Dan. He'd been so busy lately that she'd only really been able to see him for brief moments at a time. Thankfully it seemed to have taken the sting out of not being able to see her grandmother today. That was one crisis averted. If only the other, bigger crisis was as easy to solve.

All Chloe had to so was get her mother away from Harry and she could safely arrest him without worrying that he would use her as leverage. On what charges, she didn’t know yet but screw it. She would make them up if she had to. 

“Can Che come too?” Trixie asked, excitement dripping from her voice and Chloe smiled fondly. Her child's only concern in life right now was whether or not she could take her dog out for ice cream and all Chloe needed was for her to keep that innocence just a little longer. She just wanted one more year or so where her daughter was still wide eyed and filled with wonder and excitement before the dreaded teenage years loomed.

Thanks to Lucifer, even at nine years old, Trixie still believed in things a lot of other kids didn’t. After all, what was so unbelievable about a man who came down the chimney to a man who had angel wings and another face- who was currently dating her mom?

Chloe loved it.

That light in her eyes and the way she looked at life, like everything was just another new adventure to be had. The thought of anyone wanting to destroy that made her feel sick to her stomach. Before Trixie could notice her mother’s darkening mood, Chloe shook herself and set the mug she'd been holding onto, to one side. She blinked away the stinging in her eyes long enough to speak.

“Only if you go get dressed right now,” she said thickly and motioned towards the bathroom. Trixie didn’t say another word- bolting towards it with Che only feet behind her.

Lucifer turned to face her when Trixie was safely out of earshot and his eyes widened when he looked at her pretty face.

“You’re crying,” he pointed out softly and he brought his hand up to swipe the tears away from her cheek. Chloe sniffled, leaning into his touch.

“I’m scared, Luci,” she said, breath hitching. Lucifer frowned at her choice of nickname. Not because he didn't approve but because she only called him Luci when she was worried, or freaking out about something out of her control. This was apparently both and Lucifer didn’t hesitate to wrap her up in his arms. He might be the Devil but he wasn’t above handing out hugs to the woman he loved.

“Don’t be,” he said firmly, cupping her face and making her look at him. “Don’t be scared.”

Chloe sniffled again, red eyed and teary and Lucifer’s heart skipped a beat in his chest. She was so fucking beautiful that it physically pained him sometimes. She managed a watery smile, nuzzling against his palm.

“I thought you didn’t buy into the whole angel gig?” she asked softly, blue eyes meeting his brown, confused ones. “You know, _be not afraid, tiny mortal._ ”

Lucifer laughed at her terrible impression of him, smiling wide- his eyes crinkling at the sides. It would only be like her to make him laugh when she was in tears. 

“Oh, I don’t. But for you?” he said, his tone suddenly heavy. Chloe could see the adoration in his eyes and it almost bowled her over because sometimes she forgot how much he loved her. What he'd done for her in the name of that love. It never ceased to make her gape at him in wonder. It couldn't have been good for his ego but she could never help herself. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, thumbs stroking over her cheeks and confirmed what she'd just been thinking. “I would do absolutely anything you asked of me, my love. _Anything _.__ You need only say the word _ _.__ ”

It didn’t take a genius to know what he meant. One word from Chloe and Harry would disappear, never to be seen again. Their problem solved to some extent and her daughter out of harms way. He would really do that for her. Kill a human. Defy his Father in such an awful way, worse than even cutting off his wings.

Chloe’s breath left her again, her tongue feeling too thick in her mouth to even speak.

But she managed.

“No,” she said, her whole chest feeling tight at the revelation of how far he would go for her. For her daughter. “I would never ask that of you. No matter how- how scared I am. That is _not_ you and I never want you to think that it has to be. Do you even realise the ramifications of something like that?," she breathed, her fingers spearing through the short hairs on the back of his head. He was looking at her so earnestly, hanging on her every word. "Lucifer, I don’t ever, ever want you to think that you need to do something like that for anyone. Even _me_. I’m not worth you damning yourself,” she said firmly, before tilting her head to the side and kissing the palm of his hand.

They were both quiet for a long moment, only the sound of Trixie getting ready in the bathroom breaking the silence.

“You,” he said softly after what felt like forever, looking at her like she was the sun and the stars all at once. “I would raise an army and storm the gates of Heaven for you, Chloe Decker. You’re worth to me is indescribable. Immeasurable. I’m your willing slave, if you'll have me.”

His eyes were dark with something unspeakable and timeless and Chloe felt a shiver race along her spine. But as much as words like that affected a girl, she couldn't let him think that of himself. Ever.

“No, not my slave,” she patted his cheek fondly, searching for his gaze and then pulling it to hers. “My _partner_ \- and as my partner… I need you to follow my lead on this one. And no more self-sacrifice talk in this house mister.”

Lucifer sighed and rested his cheek on her head, squeezing her tight.

“As you wish,” he murmured and Chloe relaxed against him when she was assured he wasn't about to do anything stupid. “We’ll do this the old fashioned police way, if that’s what you desire.” 

“It is. Oh… and, just to return the sentiment in a way I think you’d like… I would _totally_ punch God in the face for you. Whether you’re storming the gates or not.”

Lucifer looked incredibly proud of her when she said that, giving her an absolutely winning smile that she returned. Trixie walked out of the bathroom, probably on her way back to her bedroom to search for socks and grimaced at the sickeningly loving sight in front of her. Her mom and her probably future step-dad, staring into each others eyes like it was the end of a particularly bad rom-com. 

"Okay, _please_. Get a room."

She didn't know how he did it without looking away from her mother, but Trixie suddenly had a face full of wet dishcloth thanks to Lucifer. She spluttered and pulled it off of her face, wiping away the water with her sleeve. When she looked at him, he was staring right back- eyes narrowed and she knew this was revenge for the whole, 'baby' thing earlier. 

"Be gone, foul urchin. I want to kiss your mother and you're putting me off."

Chloe laughed against his neck at the noise of horror Trixie made, shrieking in disgust as she bolted into her bedroom and closed the door- Che only feet behind. Even Hellhounds didn't much like seeing unnecessary PDA, apparently.

Oh well, all the more for them, Lucifer thought happily and kissed her, deeply and without shame.

Chloe returned it, at least safe in the knowledge that if they had nothing else in the world, at least they had each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bangs pots and pans together* Just screw each other already!


	8. Chapter 8 (Interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *bangs Lucifer and Chloe together* 
> 
> Much better.
> 
> Also, Chloe 'Straight Laced' Decker totally has a praise kink. Don't @ me.

****Chapter** ** ****Eight** **

“I have to call my mom,” she said after a long moment, her voice soft as she pulled away from his embrace. Lucifer let her go, despite clearly not wanting to. This was important after all. Chloe didn’t believe that her mother was in any immediate danger but that didn’t mean she wanted her around Harry for any longer that necessary.

The biggest question was, how to get her away from him without giving too much away. Firstly, she didn’t want Harry to know that they were on to him and secondly… she didn’t want her mom to know that she was being manipulated and try to do something stupid like confront him.

Her mom wasn’t exactly a pushover, after all.

Lucifer hovered close behind her while she dialled, her nerves causing her to tap her foot impatiently through the shrill ring on the other end.

Chloe needn’t have worried.

“Hi sweetheart! I’m so glad you called!” Penelope’s voice was it’s usual bright and airy tone but Chloe had been her daughter for over thirty years at this point. She knew when something was wrong. Her spine stiffened, throat feeling tight.

“Mom? Is everything okay? Are you alright?” Chloe couldn’t keep the edge of fear out of her voice, despite trying her best to keep it level.

From what she’d made out from the photographs on Lucifer’s phone- Harry didn’t seem particularly interested in harming the women he manipulated. Not physically at least. But that did little to stop the creeping paranoia that tingled in the back of her neck.

Lucifer was at her back now, hand between her shoulder blades comfortingly- ready to fly if she asked him to.

“Oh you know me, I’m fine,” she said dismissively, but Chloe heard her sigh softly afterwards- probably out of mild frustration that she’d been busted so easily. That’s what you get when your only child is a cop. Her dad had been much the same. Penelope Decker had never been able to lie to either of them.

“Mom, _c’mon_. You can tell me anything, remember?” Chloe said, mirroring the words her mother had said to her when she was only sixteen and running wild. Biting her lip, Chloe hedged her bets. “Is everything alright with Harry?”

Lucifer made a noise beside her- something akin to a rumbling growl and Chloe appreciated that he seemed to care about her mom’s wellbeing just as much as she did.

“Is this another honesty moment?” her mother asked, already knowing it was considering the resignation in her voice. Chloe hummed out a yes and Penelope exhaled softly, less annoyed than she had been. “Not really. We just had a little argument, you know how it is…” she said and it was only then that Chloe noticed the background noise.

“Are you in the car?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes. I’m going to the spa for the day. The miserable bastard stormed out of the hotel room. Said he was going to see some friends. After the way he’s been acting I couldn’t care less if bothers coming back-”

Now that the floodgates had opened, Chloe zoned out for a moment while Penelope continued to rant. Chloe felt a great sense of appreciation towards her mothers tenacity. Her mom took no shit, from anyone. Chloe liked to think that’s where she got it from. A wave of relief washed over her and she tuned back in in time to hear, “-Done nothing but sulk for this entire trip.”

“What did you argue about?” Chloe asked and beside her, Lucifer came into her eye line, his brow furrowed in hopeful confusion.

Chloe shot him a look that said they were momentarily out of the woods and then pried a little deeper, mollified that her mom was safe for now at least.

By the time she got back to her hotel, they would have a BOLO out for Harry and an officer by the front door in case he bothered coming back.

The knowledge that he was going to see _friends_ however, was unsettling and didn’t sit right with her. Friends? In a city he proclaimed to never have visited before? Yeah, no.

“I called him out for being a boring bastard and not wanting to do anything when we had to cancel our trip. He seemed really set on the beach today but I told him that you and Lucifer already had plans! It’s not like I can _make_ you go,” she tutted. “I learned a long time ago that I can’t make my daughter do anything,” she added, her tone lightening, teasing almost.

Chloe swallowed the sudden lump that had lodged in her throat.

“Mom, I love you, you know that right?” she blurted out. She didn’t say it much. They were the literal definition of chalk and cheese. Seeing eye to eye had never been on the cards for them, even when she’d been a little girl. But that didn’t mean that Chloe didn’t feel immensely proud of her mother, especially when she was standing up to shitty men- professionally and personally.

“I love you too baby,” came the surprised but happy response. “Okay, I’m coming up to my exit. I’ll call you tomorrow when I get back to the hotel.”

“Okay. Bye mom,” Chloe said quietly, relieved.

“Bye sweetie!”

Chloe hung up and leaned immediately against Lucifer’s waiting chest. Ease and tension fought for control of her muscles.

“She’s safe. Harry stormed out this morning- said he was going to meet some friends.”

“Bollocks.”

“My thoughts exactly. So much for, _I’ve never visited Los Angeles before_ ,” she mocked, angrily. Then a yawning cavern of worry engulfed her all of a sudden. “Lucifer, do you think I should let Dan take her? What if she wanders away? What if he takes his eyes off of her for a second and someone snatches her or-”

Lucifer cupped her face and stopped her ranting in it’s tracks, before it had the chance to become hysterical. She exhaled heavily, her fingers wrapping around his wrist for support.

“She needs to see her father, Detective,” Lucifer flashed her a small, easy smile in an attempt to get her to relax. “As much as that pains me to admit it. Besides,” he added airily. “While Daniel might just be the worst Detective I’ve ever met in my life- _she_ , on the other hand- is definitely not.”

And when Chloe turned to look where he was pointing, Che was staring back at her.

-

“How is she after last night?” Lucifer asked, watching Trixie from the window as she, Che and Daniel walked the path to his car.

They both waved at Trixie when she turned around, grinning like a maniac. She was clearly pleased to be spending some quality time with her father, especially seeing as he’d been snowed under with so much work he’d had to miss the last two Taco Tuesdays. An absolute travesty, if you asked Lucifer.

His tacos were sinfully delicious and poor Daniel was being done out of a decent meal. Not that he _cared_ , but still.

Che walked at Trixie’s side, head almost to her shoulder and her body tight against the human she was guarding.

Che was much like Maze in that respect. Protective. Vigilant. From Hell.

All of the important things.

Lucifer had assured Chloe that Che was more than capable of ripping apart anything that came near her daughter and intelligent enough to know what counted as danger and what didn’t. So Chloe didn’t have to worry about her eating the mail man at least.

Against her better judgement, Chloe found that knowing Che was some sort of unstoppable killing machine when provoked, only made her feel better about letting Trixie go anywhere after the strange events of the night before and the possibility that someone might be after her.

Between the incident last night and the looming thought of Harry Fisher’s sudden storming out, Chloe hadn’t really wanted to let Trix out of her sight. But Dan __was__ a trained Detective and at the end of the day, an excellent father so Chloe could hardly say no.

Trixie was, however, under strict instructions to stay within sight of the both Dan and Che at all times. No exceptions. Although Chloe doubted Che would have a problem keeping Trixie close either way.

“She was a little spooked, but she’s had worse scares I guess,” Chloe nibbled her thumb nail, watching him. His shoulders were tense and they had been all morning. Much like she had a few nights ago, Chloe slid her arms around his waist and pressed her forehead between his shoulder blades. “I’m really glad you’re here, you know? You _and_ Che.”

She felt his muscles relax all at once, like he was melting in her embrace. She nuzzled closer. Something about him always seemed to call out to her when he was near. He gave off an energy that she’d yet to see matched by anyone and it pulled her in, made her crave his touch.

“And you, my love?” he turned suddenly in her embrace and she found herself looking up at his face, his expression earnest. “How are you feeling?”

Lucifer could feel the nervous energy vibrating around her even now, not abated from the night before. But as usual, she didn’t voice it.

“I’m fine,” she shrugged.

“You’re tense, is what you are darling,” Lucifer countered and she let her forehead fall against his chest.

“Really, babe. I’m alright-”

Lucifer turned her without warning until her back was to the window and he was facing out and with little effort on his part, he lifted her and placed her on the window ledge.

“Hey!”

There was both laughter and confusion in her voice until he dropped his face to her neck and licked a long, wet line over her skin. He felt her shiver underneath his fingertips. The air between them pulsed suddenly with desire and Chloe pulled back to look at him in spite of the overwhelming urge to kiss him instead.

“Luce, we can’t. We only have an hour and we should really start calling around for-”

“You need it,” he cupped her cheek gently, thumb sweeping over that high cheekbone that he loved to trace with his eyes. “You haven’t relaxed properly since your mother arrived. Your neck is sore with tension,” he said, his hand dropping lower to massage the tense muscles in question.

“How the Hell did you-” Chloe’s question cut off with a groan when he hit a sweet spot.

“I always know what you need,” he chuckled, kissing the end of her nose, her cheek, her forehead. “You’ve been rolling your head back and forth all morning. Rubbing your shoulders,” he murmured and his fingers danced over them, chasing the rigid feeling away. “I notice everything about you, my love.”

“You make a really, really good case,” she said, her hand coming up to cover his.

“The urchin is with her father and as doubtful as I am of Daniel’s skills as a Detective, I’m confident he’s at least a semi-decent caregiver. Besides. Che is there too. Nothing will happen to her, I promise. Let me take care of _you_ for a moment,” he said, a little breathless as he nosed along her jawline and the low bass of his voice so close to her pulse point sent desire spiking through her.

Chloe couldn’t deny that she had been on edge for days now. Just having him so close, all warm and solid, had already made her soak through her panties. Her pussy throbbed with arousal, thrumming along with her racing pulse.

She whined a noise that Lucifer took for approval and he gently nudged her legs apart to stand between them. Fuck, he could feel the heat of her between their clothes and his cock was already straining eagerly to get to her.

Lucifer hit all of her most sensitive spots quickly and in succession.

Tugging at her earlobe with his teeth, one hand playing along the curve of her hip and his hips pushing between her legs to move them apart. He pulled her blouse open with deft fingers and quickly shoved her bra down to free her breasts. Chloe moaned, needy already and her back arched against the cool glass behind her.

It really should trouble her that Lucifer could make her lose her inhibitions so quickly but his mouth had latched on to her nipple the moment it was exposed and all rational thought had taken a back seat. He sucked one until it was hard and glistening, then moved to the other- all the while keeping her in place with his hands on her hips.

She could feel her inner muscles clenching and unclenching, impatient to be around his cock and her hips bucked off of their own accord.

Her fingers slipped from where they’d been holding his head to her chest and she fumbled with his belt buckle impatiently.

Lucifer took a much more civil approach to opening his trousers and it took him only a moment to get them undone before Chloe’s hot little hand was slipping inside to circle the thick length of his cock. It was his turn to groan, a pleased, wanting sound that he muffled in the curve of her neck.

Chloe stroked him a few times, her thumb sliding through the gathering precum on the head and smearing it across him. He huffed a breathy laugh, nipping at her ear again and he felt her laugh with him. She had really, really needed this. And it was apparent that he had as well. His anger had been getting the better of him for two days now and the tension needed to be broken somehow.

He took a moment to check that there was no-one getting an eyeful outside and when he was sure the coast was clear, his hands tugged impatiently at Chloe’s pants. She lifted her hips and he slid both her underwear and her pants down, only bothering to let her pull one leg free before he was back between her thighs.

His mouth slanted against hers and her tongue found it’s way to his impatiently.

Lucifer’s hands slid down, thumbing over her nipples again before he spread her pussy open and broke the kiss to gaze down at her.

“You’re so beautiful Chloe,” he purred, his pupils blown wide and his tongue sweeping across his bottom lip. He wanted to bury his tongue in her pretty cunt. Have her thighs pressed tightly to his ears but still be able to hear her loud, breathless sobs of his name.

The thought sent more precum drooling from the head of his cock, down along the shaft until it dripped over her fingers.

Later, he promised himself. He would take her away when this was finished, to some foreign beach where it was only them and the sand and the sea for miles upon miles. A place where he could plant his face between her legs and not come up for air ever again.

The thought made him giddy and aroused and as hard as diamond.

At one point in time, she might have shied away from his searching eyes but after months of only encouragement and worship, most of her inner self-loathing had abated and now she only jutted her hips forward eagerly to let him see more. Lucifer’s breathing hitched, pleased at how much she let him rake his eyes across her with appreciation.

With her free hand, she slid two fingers inside of herself and Lucifer watched them disappear and re-emerge shiny and wet. She watched him watching her the entire time she teased him, more arousal seeping out of her.

Lucifer swallowed hard, his cock jumping in her hand.

He had no doubt that were he still Samael, he would have waxed lyrical with some beautiful symphony about her body- all wide eyed and virginal.

Thankfully, Lucifer Morningstar was much more inclined to make her come instead.

He captured her wrist before she could touch herself again and brought her fingers to his mouth, his tongue winding around them. He savoured the taste of her, feminine and sweet and when she whimpered needily, he had to tense his thigh muscles in a herculean effort not to come like some green boy all over her.

He _loved_ it when she made noises like that.

His thumb lightly stroked a line over the pink flesh inside of her, gathering the slick arousal he found and spreading it up over her clit in one smooth movement. Her heavy breathing became panting as he did it again, and again and-

She gasped softly, her hand circling his wrist to pull him away.

“Not yet,” she managed, tugging him closer with one heel against his ass.

He looked at her face, cheeks red and eyelids heavy and surged forward with no more stalling. His hand found his cock, still dripping and desperate to be inside her and he gripped the base firmly. She pulled his face to hers and their sloppy meeting was more like hot, wet panting into each others mouths than a kiss but he wasn’t complaining.

Trying to draw it out just that one moment longer, Lucifer dragged the head of his cock through her wetness. He bumped her clit once, twice, and her breathing became laboured to the point that he knew if he touched her again she would come. While that was the whole point, he wanted to be in her when she did and so he ducked just a little and pressed himself inside.

Chloe’s fingernails bit into his shoulders through his shirt but Lucifer felt little resistance and he bottomed out so quickly that he was worried he might have hurt her.

“Are you-?” he asked but she simply bucked to get him as deep as possible and his question was cut off with a groan.

“M’fine. Fine, fine, fine,” she said quickly, mindlessly. “ _Please_ move babe,” she begged and Lucifer couldn’t say no to a fucking request like that. He pulled out and then snapped his hips forward, driving himself back inside and the sudden movement couple with the burst of pleasure made Chloe cry out.

Her head fell back against the window and Lucifer had a sneaking suspicion that she rather enjoyed the possibility that people could walk by and see her being fucked five ways to Sunday and back.

Lucifer rather liked it as well. He leaned in close to her and rested his forearm on the glass above her head- crowding her close and making sure she could feel the heat from his body and the chill of the glass at the same time.

He rolled his hips, glancing down to watch as he slid inside her again and his own moan came to him unbidden and hot. Chloe’s hands crept under his loose pants to his ass but she didn’t try and set the rhythm- just letting them rest there instead.

The only sounds in the living room were their moans and the slick, erotic sound of skin on skin.

She pulsed and clenched around him, getting tighter with every thrust and he could feel her orgasm approaching almost as well as she could. His cock felt phenomenal, surrounded by a tight, hot wetness and he was amazed that he hadn’t come yet- in spite of his devilish stamina. Chloe had a habit of negating _everything_ preternatural about him after all.

He pushed forwards in a particularly hard thrust, hitting her deep and pressing the base of himself against her clit.

Chloe’s grip on him tightened- both her hands and her pussy pulling him deeper.

Even in his mindless state, Lucifer still had the good sense to dip his mouth to ear, his breathing heavy.

Back when this had been new and awkward for them, they’d seemed to make it a mission to explore each other to the point of exhaustion almost daily. Lucifer had been almost single minded in his search to find every kink that Chloe had- known and unknown.

It had made for a quite a few very, very long weekends in which they did nothing but fuck their way around his penthouse.

He’d found her love of dirty talk completely by accident though, when he’d breathed a long, low, “ _Fuck Chloe, you feel so good sweetheart,_ ” one night in the heat of the moment. Lucifer usually liked to put his mouth to far moreproductive actions but the way she’d arched and squeezed his cock- her full lips parting as she came…

Well.

He’d decided to get a little more chatty after that. Even when he’d exhausted her to the point where she didn’t think she could move, let alone come again, all he had to do was mutter some filthy sentiment into her ear and she was bucking under him like it was only the beginning of the night all over again.

The mere thought made his hips stutter and his balls ache, bordering between discomfort and pleasure. He brushed his lips against the shell of her ear, breath hot and wet and her fingers fisting in his shirt under the steadily increasing pace of his thrusts.

“You are such a _good girl,_ Detective. Does it feel good?”

She made a noise, somewhere between and moan and a gasp and it shot straight to his groin, and the pressure mounted faster now. She reacted so quickly to a little praise and it always made him hot, knowing what it did to her. He somehow managed to make himself sound seductive, despite being on the verge of blowing his load and losing any coherency he might have had. “Do you like being fucked against a window where anyone could see?” He pulled in a breath, trying and failing to keep the tremor out of his voice. “You're my little exhibitionist, aren’t you?”

Chloe bucked, hard, knowing full well what he was doing but not minding in the least.

“Yeah,” she agreed mindlessly, trailing her lips along his neck with open mouthed kisses. He made a low, purring growl in the back of his throat and was rewarded by a flood of slickness around his cock. He exhaled shakily, hands gripping her hips to pull her close.

“Would you let me fuck you like this in the middle of Lux?” he asked, his voice choked, raw. The mere thought of it almost tipped him over the edge but he held on for just a moment. Chloe wasn’t as used to holding off orgasms though and he felt her thighs tighten hard around his hips. 

“Yes,” came her shaky reply. “Yes, yes, _yes!_ ” Chloe shuddered and thrashed under his hands, the muscles in her pussy slamming down tightly around the length of his cock and for a moment, Lucifer was proud that he’d tipped her over the edge with his voice- before she clenched again and he felt his own orgasm crest almost without warning.

"Bloody- _fuck!_ " He groaned, and he barely had time to pull her as close as he could before he was shuddering in his release- panting frantically into the curve of her shoulder.

There was something so delightfully naughty about coming inside her, he thought hazily through the pulses of pleasure. Almost like he was laying claim. Marking her as his in some petty, primal way that she would slap the back of his head for if she knew he was thinking about it.

She went lax under his hands as her high eased, her breathing hard and mixed with his when he kissed her lazily as if to say- _'Hello, do you remember your name? Because I don't remember mine'_. His gaze met hers and he held it for a moment, before they both broke into breathy laughter- almost shyly looking away from each other as though they hadn't done this a thousand times before.

His head fell against her shoulder and Chloe’s hand ran the length of his back in a soothing motion- which was utterly ridiculous considering he was the one who was supposed to be comforting her. Her palm settled between the joints of his hidden wings, pressing softly. Lucifer’s fingers, somewhat unwillingly, loosened their grip on her hips and he pulled back just a bit, to look at her again.

A well-fucked flush covered her cheeks and her hair was almost artfully messy. She looked like she’d fallen straight from a Renaissance painting.

“You look very, very sexy like that,” he rumbled, nuzzling kisses against her throat. He felt her laugh more than heard it, as he ducked his head lower to lave at her nipple. He’d never had the chance to be so stupidly affectionate after sex before so he always took full advantage with her.

Chloe let him do as he pleased for a moment, hands exploring and his softening cock still inside her. She’d learned, not long into their relationship, that it was better to simply let him be. Let him enjoy having someone in his bed who didn’t just view him as a body for pleasure. It was like some kind of reassurance that she wasn’t going anywhere.

Eventually though, she rubbed her knuckles against his temple and tugged him upwards again. His nose bumped against hers, and they shared a smile as the reality of having sex against a front room window slowly set in.

He glanced down to where they were still joined and slowly eased out of her. Their combined come followed, dripping out in a lazy path towards the ledge below. Lucifer looked far too pleased with himself as he watched it, almost fascinated as it pooled out of her.

Chloe distracted him from his inner peacocking by cupping his face in her hands and kissing him.

“I really did need that Lucifer,” she murmured, pushing his damp hair from his forehead. He wondered if he looked like he’d been dragged through the trenches, as usual. It said something of them when _he_ was the one who always came out looking debauched while she looked like the angel.

“Any time,” he beamed, nibbling her bottom lip between his teeth a moment later. “I mean that. _Any_ time.”

She pushed him backwards, laughing as she hopped down from the ledge and he retreated with a wicked grin towards the bathroom.

Taking a moment, she peered out out of the window- impressed by the faint outline of herself in the fog from the heat of their bodies. She probably needed to buy the neighbours a fruit basket- again- but the aching tension that she’d been holding in her shoulders for days had eased. _And_ they’d gotten a great show from it too. Hell. They should be buying _her_ a fruit basket…

The day had turned overcast while they’d been in their own private bubble and the sun had vanished behind a haze of clouds. Dan only had an hour for lunch and they’d been alone for about half of that.

Chloe relaxed, more so than she had in days as the unseen weight of worry lifted for a moment. She still had thirty minutes with Lucifer all to herself.

The warm, high feeling was so satisfying that she didn’t even hear him return from the bathroom until his chin rested on her shoulder. She let her head drop back against him, content for a moment to be held. Lucifer’s arms wound around her and without warning, he slid a warm, damp wash cloth down between her legs- while his mouth dropped kisses to her neck.

She should have been ashamed at how quickly she went boneless in his arms, leaning back into his chest as he gently cleaned away the result of their messy coupling. He had a thing about looking after her after sex and she was constantly grateful, considering that he was surprisingly good at dealing with the amount of stubble burn she usually got on her inner thighs.

She hummed, cuddling back into his arms while he fussed over her, cleaning her off where she needed it.

“You’re so good to me,” she said softly, not wanting to disturb the relaxing air in the room. He smiled and kissed the side of her head.

“So not _too_ shabby for my first grown up relationship?”

Chloe laughed then, her thumb rubbing circles on his forearm which was draped around her stomach. She didn’t want to jinx it by saying it out loud, but maybe everything would resolve itself without all the trouble that usually accompanied it. There was a BOLO out for Harry now that he’d taken off and her mom was out of harms way for the moment at least. Trixie was with Dan and they had a moment to simply breathe.

It was so easy, here in the arms of the Devil, to believe that everything was going to be just fine.

-

Twenty five minutes later, Dan pulled up at the corner, mounting the curb and killing the engine. He turned in the driver seat to look at his daughter, who was beaming from ear to ear beside the animal she had insisted on sitting next to.

“Good ice cream, monkey?”

“The best. I think Che liked hers too. Didn’t you, pretty girl?” Trixie cooed and Che’s tongue lolled out happily. Dan smirked. The dog had wolfed the honey bear flavoured ice cream that Trixie had insisted on buying for her. Then she’d stared him down until his cone had somehow ended up in her stomach too.

He had to admit… this was one Hell of a dog. Literally, according to Chloe. She was goodnatured and friendly, eager to be petted by everyone and people seemed naturally enamoured with her- himself included.

Although, Dan had always thought of himself as a dog person anyway.

“Okay, let’s go you wild animals,” he chuckled, snatching his phone and his wallet up and sliding out of the car. Trixie almost bounced out, the sugar racing through her system and Che followed, just as excited to be back in the fresh air. He got the impression that she wasn’t the biggest fan of riding in the car. Just as he was successfully juggling his keys, wallet, phone and car door, said phone erupted loudly into the cheery Backstreet Boys song that Ella had set as his ring tone. He fumbled for it, losing his grip on the rest of his things as he did.

The contents of his wallet promptly went everywhere- just as the laws of calamity told them to. Credit cards scattered, coins rolled and pictures fluttered just out of reach underneath his car.

Namely, the photo he’d taken of Trixie at her first birthday party and one of the few photographs he had of Charlotte. Dan panicked. He _really_ couldn’t lose them.

“Damn it,” he grumbled, phone still ringing urgently in his hand. It was Monroe- despite the fact that he had five minutes left of his break and his paperwork was done for the day. If Trixie hadn’t been looking up at him with those big, very impressionable eyes of hers, he would have sworn like a sailor.

But then she looked at him like he was an absolute dope, giving him a lopsided smile and some of the frustration melted away. He laughed instead, shaking his head at his own clumsiness.

“Want some help dad? I can get the stuff under the car. I’m still pretty small,” she said earnestly and Dan’s heart warmed. She was such a good kid. He hoped beyond hope that this ease she had with him extended into her teenage years. He considered her offer of help but as much as he would inevitably struggle to reach where she could easily get to, Dan didn’t want his daughter scrambling under a vehicle- parked or not.

“No monkey, that’s okay. Tell you what though,” Dan said, sitting back on his heels. “You _could_ run inside and get me that grabber. You know, the one you think we don’t know about? That you use to reach the top shelf?”

He gave her a smug look when she smiled sheepishly.

“Sure dad. Just… don’t tell mom about it, okay?

Dan didn’t mention that Chloe already knew about it because she’d been the one to tip _him_ off about it. Still. He could promise not to tell her _again_. He leaned forward, offering his pinky finger to his daughter.

“Promise.”

It was sealed quickly and Dan waved her off, kneeling to collect the things that he could actually reach and hitting ‘ignore’ on his phone. Monroe could wait another minute or so. Trixie rolled her eyes fondly at him before patting her thigh and like lightening, Che was next to her, walking beside her like she was guarding the Queen of England and not a nine year old girl.

Jesus, when had his little girl grown up all of a sudden?

Trixie turned the corner and chatted amicably to Che about nothing at all as they made their way towards the house.

“I wonder if mom will let us watch Jaws tonight?” she mused out loud. When Che made a noise, Trixie elaborated. “It’s this really cool film where a shark bites people’s legs off. Super scary, right?” Even while Trixie explained the in's and out's of why she couldn't tell her mother that she'd already seen the film, Che cocked her head and pondered on what was so frightening about ripped off limbs in the first place.

That was all in a days work in Hell.

In the distance, the clouds thickened in preparation for the coming storm and at the edge of the pavement, a black loading van trundled to a stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit. Is... is that a cliffhanger? Oh dear, that's just a horrible thing to do, isn't it?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three men, a dog and a little girl on a street corner. Blood will be shed but the only question is, who's?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read the Authors Note at the end for important information!

****Chapter Nine** **

The driver killed the ignition and as he did, his companion turned his head to stare out of the tinted window and along the row of houses. Cigarette smoke circled the air and it was making the inside of the van almost sickeningly claustrophobic.

The passenger shifted suddenly in his seat and his head cocked to the side in confusion. Noticing his companions sudden interest, the driver leaned across the gap to look out as well.

“ _Huh,_ ” he rasped softly. “Wasn’t expecting her to be outside on her own.”

“She’s not on her own though, is she?” The driver responded flatly, scratching the stubble on his chin. Sharp eyes followed the little girl as she walked towards her house, the dog by her side and not a care in the world besides what she might be having for dinner that night. He leaned forward more, feeling a stirring of excitement in his stomach- but it was quickly quashed.

While it might be easy to take _care_ of the mutt out in the open and snatch the girl- the neighbour bustling about in her flower pots might not take too kindly to it.

The passenger gave an uncomfortable wheezing cough. Cigarette’s annoyed his chest but he’d rather shoot himself than actually say that.

“But on the bright side, at least it looks like mama bear isn’t as overbearing and protective as we thought she’d be.”

Trixie Decker came to a stop on the path abruptly, kneeling to pick up a stick from underneath one of the shrubs that lined the way.

The biggest and most irritating foil to their plot so far, bounded energetically around her like there was electricity in the air. Like a storm was brewing somewhere on the coastline. Maybe there was, but it clearly didn’t concern either the girl or her dog enough to go inside as she delayed her journey and threw the stick as far as she could in front of her.

The dog- Che, he remembered, bolted after it at alarming speed and he grimaced.

“It ain’t ‘ _mama_ ’ I’m worried about you idiot. She don’t like me much, that’s for sure but… It’s that boyfriend of hers. He looked at me like he was going to string me up if I so much as breathed near either one of ‘em,” Harry grouched, finger’s tightening on the steering wheel.

“The mark didn’t mention a boyfriend?”

Harry turned his cool gaze onto to Jackson.

“She was as fuckin’ surprised as I was. Although… in a different way.”

Sure enough, Penelope had been over the moon when Lucifer Morningstar had arrived for dinner and had taken her daughter’s hand- while Chloe announced that they’d finally bitten the bullet and started dating. His own reaction of surprise had been sincere, but it was the reaction of a man whose smooth sailing had just hit choppy waters.

This fucking _guy_ …

Overprotective, intimidating- he’d squeezed Harry’s hand so tightly that it had tingled unpleasantly for the rest of the night and every time he looked up from his food, he met the cold, almost knowing stare of a man with the Devil’s name and for brief, unnerving moments, Harry had panicked. Did he know? Was the game up? Had he slipped up in his story?

He knew fine well that Lucifer had no way of knowing shit about him- but that didn’t stop the rampant paranoia.

Then there was the ‘gift’ for lack of a better word. A mongrel that regarded him with almost the same fucking distrustful expression- and how was that even _possible?_ But then again, how was it possible to be running this behind because of said mongrel? Any other dog would have taken the bait they’d left by now.

The _cargo_ should have been on the road a day ago- out of the city and long gone.

It was this fucking country, he thought bitterly. California wasn’t a place they’d tried hitting before- mainly due to a bad history of underworld drug dealing and not wanting to be recognised. It was safe to say that after this bullshit, they probably wouldn’t be back again.

Better to stay in Europe, where he could find a nice little French village and settle down for a few months.Hell, maybe they’d even make a burrow down south somewhere. He’d heard Acapulco was nice this time of year.

There were places down there where they could simply pick kids up off the damn street if they wanted and he wouldn’t have to go through this song and dance for a while. He almost cursed Penelope Decker and that fucking photograph she’d showed him.

The one that sang out to him like a siren call, of a little girl with a pretty face.

Harry hated not being in control of the situation. Last night had been close by anyone’s standards and his were higher than most. That dog- despite her medium stature, was more intimidating than all of the guard dogs he’d ever faced down before put together. He wished he could put his finger on why but…

Then to have her flanked by Lucifer Morningstar, a well connected nut job who claimed to be the actual Devil?

They’d bailed with nothing to show for their efforts. But Harry was tenacious. When he wanted something, not even the Devil himself could stop him- and certainly not some cheap imitation like Morningstar. They would just have to try a little harder, that was all.

“I looked the guy up. He’s not exactly secretive about himself,” Jackson hacked another cough, wafting away smoke and longing to crack the window just a little bit. But doing so would risk Harry’s ire and he wasn’t about to be on the receiving end of that shit. Not after days of failure had him teetering on the edge of a severe meltdown.

“And? What? He’s just some playboy rich jackass who calls himself the Devil. What else is there to know?”

Jackson gawked at him.

“Just some- Harry… This guy is scary. _Crime boss scary_ , man. He has more money than God. Influences all over the city. An in with the L.A.P.D,” Jackson listed off- apparently from memory. “And that’s just scratching the surface of what he’s into. He’s taken down mobster’s all over city and the ones he hasn’t are too scared of him to do anything... It seems like everyone in Los Angeles owes him a favour…”

Harry was staring ahead while Jackson prattled on and on, one finger tapping the wheel intermittently. He waited until Jackson was finished before he bothered to respond.

“Do _me_ a fucking favour Jackson. Go inside and suck the guys dick, if you’re so in love with him,” he spat, side eyeing his cohort with absolute disdain. Jackson’s eyes dropped in embarrassment, shoulders slumping as he shut up.

In Harry’s opinion, so far, all Lucifer Morningstar had done was get in the way of what he really wanted- and he didn’t need to to hear any more about him to know that he wanted to put a bullet between his eyes.

Then shoot the dog for good measure.

Hopefully it wouldn’t come to such a… nasty conclusion though. He didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about that. They _had_ come along today to look for an opportunity to get the girl alone and it looked like they had just about lucked out. There was no more time for idle conversation while their one chance was rapidly slipping away.

Turning towards the back of the van, Harry stubbed out his cigarette at long last.

“I hope you’ve learned your lesson, dumbass,” he grunted unpleasantly at the man slumped on the mattress in the back- who had been so far silent throughout the whole exchange.

His companion shrugged, and then immediately winced in regret as whatever bruise he jostled pulsed with pain. Harry smirked and took it for a ‘yes’. He hadn’t let Francis’s spectacular failure the day before with the poison go unpunished. How hard was it set a little bit of bait?

According to Francis- very hard.

They should have been in and out in less than five minutes the night before. Same old routine as always. Glass out of the window frame, chloroform over the mouth, kid in hand, glass back in the frame like nothing had ever happened. Instead though, it had been a re-enactment of the three stooges as they’d tripped and fumbled over each other to get back to the van.

Standing on the bed and looking like she was about to come through the glass at them had been that fucking dog. Harry felt a chill run down his spine at the memory and he scowled at such a reaction.

That _howl_ that had ripped from her lungs had made his ears ring the whole way back through the brush. Even later, when he’d snuck back into the hotel room he was sharing with Penelope, his head had ached from a mixture of frustration and what he thought was a burst eardrum.

Thankfully, it hadn’t been quite that bad.

The pain had abated by morning but he’d found that his act had been so much harder to maintain than it usually was. When Penelope told him that Chloe had cancelled the afternoon’s backup plan- he’d been unable to keep up his happy go lucky routine any longer. Penelope had stormed off when he’d then pushed about taking the kid to the beach- something he would never usually be so stupid as to do.

He knew full well that Chloe had no plans today.

She’d told them as much at dinner the other night. It would have been a perfect opportunity and having it snatched away coupled with the failure of the night before… well. He’d snapped. They’d argued and now he was going to have to grovel and simper pathetically to get back into her good graces.

Fuck. The sooner they got this job done the better.

Jackson, who was sweating profusely in the heat of the van, wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

“I dunno man. This seems like more trouble than it’s worth. This isn’t just _any_ kid now. I know we’ve hit cops before but… those cops didn’t have the backup that this one does. They were low level at best. Maybe we should…” his eyes darted around the van and he barely caught Francis’s warning look before the words were out of his mouth. “Just find someone else…?” he wheezed, pushing on his receding hairline like it was falling into his eyes.

Harry’s face darkened and Jackson heard Francis shift uneasily out of reach. He’d already paid the price for his failure the night before and the regret that washed over Jackson was staunchly obvious.

It was a well known fact that Harry Fisher didn’t fail. Didn’t _quit_. He’d completed every job he’d ever undertaken with a cold, ruthless efficiency that saw him rehired again and again. Having a ‘job’ go so far south was already making him mad.

Jackson suggesting that they should just give up, could be enough to tip him over the edge.

Sadly, this thought only came to mind after the words were out of his mouth.

“I’ve been working that washed up actress bitch for months now, you insubordinate little shit ,” Harry lunged forward, fisting his hands in the heavier man’s shirt and pulling him close. Jackson almost swallowed his own tongue out of fear, trying his best to cower back. “I _want_ that little girl, do you fucking understand!? I’ve earned the right to have her.”

Silence weighed heavily in the van for a few moments, save for laboured breathing. Harry scowled when he realised what’s he’d just admitted out loud.

“Our clients are paying us big bucks,” he hastily added before releasing Jackson- practically throwing him against the door. Jackson quickly moved out of punching range. “ _We_ don’t let them down and _we_ don’t get fucked, understand?” Harry jabbed his finger towards the cowering man, his eyes shining with rage at both himself and his cohorts.

Jackson- ever the meek ‘yes man’, nodded softly, not meeting Harry’s eye again.

Francis clearly hadn’t learned his lesson from the night before though and the charged air in the van was clearly egging him on to stand up for Jackson instead of hiding away.

“Yeah, we all know what _you_ want her for,” he sneered and Harry bristled openly, his shoulders tensing. “I thought we weren’t allowed to sample the goods?”

“How about you shut your fucking mouth,” Harry snarled and turned on him swiftly but without the close proximity he had to Jackson, he couldn’t physically threaten Francis this time. “You don’t know shit about me.”

Francis smiled nastily, emboldened by the distance put between them by the seats.

“Oh, I know plenty. At least Jackson and I are just in it for the _money_. We’re not the ones who want to fuck little kids, Harry,” he snapped back and Jackson wondered if Francis had a death wish. Maybe he did. Maybe he’d finally had enough of this whole shit show and wanted an easy out- but just didn’t have the courage to kill himself.

There was no doubt that Harry would happily do it for him. Jackson looked away, staring out of the window in a vain attempt to escape the suddenly crippling silence in the van. No-one had ever had the balls to say what they were all thinking- at least not to Harry’s face.

But before Harry could even think about retaliation, Jackson shifted in his seat- sitting up straighter.

“Hey, hey! The neighbour is going back inside!” he slapped Harry’s arm to get his attention and it seemed to break the mounting tension for just a moment. Harry leaned forward to see better, watching the woman wave brightly to the Decker girl as she packed up her things.

The sky had darkened even more and the sun was gone for what looked like the rest of the day.

It was the best opportunity they would get- especially seeing as there would be no beach trip. Harry rounded on Francis, ignoring the urge to strangle him- for now anyway. Instead, he reached into the glove box and grabbed a beaten up guide to the streets of L.A.

He almost threw it at the younger man, hitting him in the face.

Francis groaned, exasperated when the situation finally dawned on him.

“Not the fucking lost tourist shit again,” he rubbed a hand through his dirty blond hair. “Why can’t _Jackson_ go for a change? I’m sick of it always being me. _Hey there little boy and or girl!”_ he said mockingly. _“Do ya mind coming with me to my fucking big creepy looking black van, while I ask you- an eight year old- for directions?”_

“Jackson can’t go, you idiot,” Harry said coldly, gesturing to the larger man. “He looks like the definition of a fucking pervert and _I_ can hardly go. That dog’s likely to rip my throat out on sight at this rate. So that leaves you.”

Francis muttered something to himself as he got up and headed for the back of the van but Jackson didn’t hear what he said. He hoped Harry hadn’t either because any residual anger was likely to be directed towards him.

“Oh, and Francis?” Harry called after him. The younger man looked up, pausing just for a moment. Harry stared back at him, his eyes the very definition of ice. Francis went cold, from his head to his toes and tried not to show that he was visibly afraid now. He’d crossed a line by calling Harry out and he knew it. “If you fuck it up this time… It’ll be better to let the police have you. I won’t be as nice to you as they are.”

Francis didn’t respond, choosing to just stare hard at Harry instead. A moment passed and the tension broke as he finally turned away and slipped out of the van onto the street- as inconspicuously as he could.

After all, it was always Francis for a _reason._

He had that young, boyish charm that children just seemed to gravitate towards. He was good with accents- could take on anyone and their mother if he tried hard enough and in their profession there was no such thing as giving anything less that one hundred percent. He looked the part. He acted the part.

But his heart wasn’t in it. Jackson didn’t think it ever had been. They’d been talking about getting out for a while- him and Francis. One last score and they were done. They could leave Harry and this shitty life behind them and start fresh somewhere.

Somewhere where they could try and rid themselves of the stench of guilt that clung to them now.

Jackson chanced a look at Harry- who watched through the window intently. His eyes hardly left that little girl and Jackson felt a pang of something horrible. Regret? Guilt? Probably both. Deep down, he knew there was no buyer this time, no matter how hard Harry tried to convince them there was.

This kid wasn’t going to have her memories fucked up and be given to some rich folks who couldn’t have kids.

Jackson had always consoled himself with that. The thought that at least the kids were with people who wanted them and who never asked about how they’d come to have them. But… it was different this time. This little girl wouldn’t get that.

Harry wanted to indulge himself and it was the misfortune of the Decker girl that she’d been the one who had turned the head of an unrelenting, seemingly unstoppable monster.

For once, Jackson hoped that things didn’t go Harry’s way.

Just for today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this has been a long time coming, right folks?
> 
> Long story short, a few months ago, I lost my job. Well. I was made redundant, for lack of a better word. I turned up for my shift and was told to go home because we were closing down and the owners had thrown away so much money they didn't even have enough for redundancy pay (or the last two weeks of worker wages). So, I had rent due and savings for California and now those savings are basically gone- along with my laptop and Playstation and anything not nailed down that wasn't a necessity. 
> 
> I've had no way to post, or reply to comments or post on Tumblr unless I used the local library computer. It's been... hard? Very hard, especially seeing as Christmas loomed on the horizon but I was lucky enough to score a new job last week and so I can breathe again at long last.
> 
> My friend Ryan very kindly loaned me his laptop for a week or two so I can finally get online again and so here I am! I don't need to spend all of my online time browsing for jobs any more and so I'm using it to finally, finally, post another chapter of something I've missed terribly. 
> 
> Now for the bad news. This is indeed a laptop on loan and he'll need it back soon and any money I'll be saving will be going on Christmas or bills for now. It will take me a while to save up for a new computer and so updates will be sporadic until I actually get my mitts on one. 
> 
> Hopefully Santa is kind this year but I doubt even he can drop one down the chimney. But I believed I owed an explanation of my sudden absence for the past few months.
> 
> Anyway, enough of the sob story. Thanks for sticking with this story and hopefully I can get another chapter posted before I have to give the laptop back!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Smithers, release the hounds."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Blood/gore warning I guess? Nothing too extreme).

****Chapter Ten** **

“Hey there, excuse me little girl?”

They were almost to the house when Che’s ears perked up suddenly, catching the thud of footsteps approaching behind them from behind. Trixie came to a slow stop on the gravel path when the voice rang out. There was no-one else around and it was clear that someone was talking to _her_ and so Trixie turned in the direction of the voice. When she saw that it was someone she was unfamiliar with though, she was wary enough to take a step backwards.

The man was young, with a dirty blond mop of unruly hair that made him seem even younger. He was dressed casually- obviously not concerned about the turn the weather was clearly about to take. Che could smell it in the air. Rain on the horizon and thunder brewing. Granted, human's couldn't sense what she could but hey, that's what the weather forecast was for.

He had a relatively handsome face and underneath the good looks, there was something playful about him. He exuded a sort of bumbling idiotic charm that had probably gotten him far further in life that it should have. 

Che's quick scan of him brought her to the battered book in his hand. She cocked her head, squinting at the cover out of curiosity. A... guide to the streets of Los Angeles? Very dog eared, used frequently. _Curious_ , she thought to herself. Weren't human's past the point of physical maps? Even Lucifer was glued to his smartphone- which according to Trixie the night before- could point you in the direction of the best chocolate cake in Los Angeles, among other things.

"I ah, lost my tour group and I was wondering if you could help me out," he said, a little out of breath and suddenly holding his side like he'd been running.

When she’d arrived on Earth, Lucifer had walked her through the city streets, pointing out various things she might need to know about. An informative- if noisy- trip to the Decker residence.

At one point, he’d been jostled past by a group of about seven strong, all of them equipped with cameras and sunglasses and horrid garish shirts that had hurt her eyes. When they’d finally made it though the throng, Lucifer had tutted and rolled his eyes, muttered ‘ _bloody tourists_ ’ under his breath and so her association of that word was definitely nothing like the man who stood in front of her.

Had anyone been paying attention to Che’s expression, they’d have almost said she was frowning.

She exhaled slowly, claws tightening into the ground underfoot. It didn’t matter what he was or why he was here. Trust no-one. Nothing comes near the girl, she repeated to herself as she stood abruptly from where she’d been seated on the grass- chewing on the stick that the child had thrown.

Stalking forward with a surefooted stride and her head lowered, she snaked her way around Trixie’s back and stood at her opposite side. Very deliberately, she nudged her head underneath Trixie’s arm, until the child's fingers carded through her fur comfortingly.

Her eyes never left the bewildered man during the entire display of protectiveness. 

Beside her, Trixie seemed suitably wary of him. Last night's clusterfuck had affected her more than she’d let on to her either mother and Lucifer. Che knew though, having been privy to Trixie's morning thoughts. The girl had muttered softly to her enraptured audience as Chloe and Lucifer slept on this morning, about how she'd had a nightmare about the face in the window and wondering softly if they might be coming back. 

So she wasn’t surprised when Trixie’s arm tightened around her, almost as though to reassure herself that no harm would come.

"Your tour group?" she asked, quietly. Distrustfully.

“Yeah. Look, I'm sorry to bother you sweetheart,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

He bounded forward along the path at a sort of half jog- but instead of coming too close as Che thought he would, he stopped just short of a few meters away. It was a suitable distance for now and so Che didn’t bare her teeth at him, interested in what he wanted in spite of her obvious wariness.

“It's okay, I guess,” Trixie answered, her fingers carding through soft fur. Che let out an almost silent rumble in her chest that vibrated all the way to Trixie’s fingertips, silent to any prying ears.

“I know it’s a long shot sweetheart, but _you_ look like a girl who knows where she is,” he said cheerfully, still not moving any closer but _also_ not moving away. “And I’m in a bit of a pickle. This thing isn’t helping at all,” he waggled the book in the air and Che saw the hint of a smile form on Trixie’s face at the comical, non-threatening behaviour. He did come across as pathetically useless, to be fair. “So, I’m super hoping if you can tell me if I’m anywhere near Reseeda Boulevard? I’m just hopeless with directions.”

_If he's hopeless with directions then why is he asking for them?_ Che thought half amused by his obvious stupidity and half on alert again. After all, it wasn’t illegal for a human to be stupid but it also wasn’t common practice to ask a child for directions either. Stop another adult. Ask a police man. A shop assistant. A fucking street lamp, if none of the above work.

Che, of course, had no idea where Reseeda Boulevard was. By the expression on Trixie's face, it was clear that she didn’t recognise the name either and so she shook her head in the negative. 

His face fell almost comically and he muttered a disappointed ‘ _oh dear’_ under his breath. He turned in a circle, rubbing his neck and looking at the street sign almost innocently but it didn’t escape Che’s notice that he was suddenly much closer to them when he turned back. How on earth had he done that? Trixie- to her credit- noticed that he’d gotten incrementally nearer to her too.

“No, sorry. I don’t know where that is,” she said slowly, eyebrows furrowed in a childish sort of suspicion now, instead of amusement. Che nuzzled against her and Trixie relaxed a bit into the warm body beside her.

“Okay, that’s no problem. Um… what about the Layton Hotel? Have you heard of that?”

Any other child might have panicked- or even been receptive, when he took another step forward, still smiling that warm welcoming grin- but Trixie Decker was a smart little thing. Thinking on her feet, she said, “No. But I can get my mom, if you want. She’s a _cop_. She knows everywhere in the city.”

Her tone held a bit of a challenge and Che would have puffed out her chest in pride at the little human’s quick thinking and self preservation skills. Truly remarkable for someone her age. Perhaps her mother’s natural intuition had rubbed off on her daughter far more than she knew. Or maybe she could just sense a bad egg when she saw one.

Either way, Che couldn’t have been more impressed. This one would be a cunning one when she was older.

“Oh, no that’s okay! Don’t worry about it,” he replied quickly, his laugh suddenly tinged with nerves and Che thought that it was rightfully so. But his response was so quick that she narrowed her eyes at him, unimpressed at the haste and sudden desperation in his voice. He had his hands in the air, a universal gesture to show that he was non-threatening.

Too quickly for Trixie to notice, his eyes darted up towards the Detective’s house.

Che noticed.

He... shouldn’t have been able to know which house to look at. A _stranger_ asking directions certainly wouldn’t have. Che felt her lips curl over her teeth without her even having to think about it. It could be chance, perhaps. Though humans were rarely afforded such lucky guesses. She supposed that he might have been looking _past_ the house but- she couldn’t shake the cold feeling of suspicion sinking over her. This had been fun while it lasted but she was suddenly eager to get the child back to the safety of her mother and step-father. 

Her muscles tightened under her skin, something single minded threatening to take over and only being held back by the close proximity to the girl. Trixie glanced at Che when she felt her stiffen under her hand and when her eyes were turned away, the stranger took another step forward and closed that all important gap a little bit more.

Right now, he had no idea that that gap was the only thing keeping him alive.

He clearly hadn’t picked up on the tension that suddenly hung heavy in the air, much like the encroaching storm clouds above. Trixie did though and her hand fisted in Che’s fur, as she shied away and took a step back. Che moved with her in time, like she would with her master- anticipating the girls movements and following suit. Lucifer would wax lyrical about the _'dance'_ of the hunt. Che simply called it, being prepared. 

His smile tightened at the edges, whether through annoyance at her distrust or because he was running out of charm, Che didn’t know nor did she care. It was time to be done with this situation. She nudged Trixie hard with her head, forcing her back another step. 

"Wait! Wait," he said, kindly all of a sudden. A change of tactics when he saw that he was fighting a losing battle- with a dog no less. Tucking the book under his arm and pushing the hair from his eyes, he seemed to force himself to relax once again. In the distance, Che could hear a heavy engine running and past that- the sound of Trixie’s father- swearing and scrabbling under his car for that lost photograph.It had been less than five minutes since they’d left him, not long enough for him to worry yet.

“I'm sorry for bugging you so much but- That’s a _beautiful_ dog you have there. What’s his name?” he asked, his eyes changing to soft and friendly in the blink of an eye. All traces of the tightness was gone and so was the sudden rushed feeling of his voice.

“She’s a _she_ and her name is Che. She _doesn’t_ like strangers,” Trixie answered, her voice hard, feeling a little bolder in the face of this strange man. While Che might be the one protecting her, it was clear that the little girl felt like it was a two way relationship.

Che’s heart warmed as Trixie Decker scowled at the threat in front of her, little arms crossed.

“You _can’t_ pet her,” she said firmly.

His face fell again into an exaggerated frown but his eyes were cold, not even fake warmth lingering in them now.

“Well that’s not very nice, kid,” he pointed out. Trixie didn't seem like she cared very much. “You don't want to make me sad, do you? I _love_ dogs!” He knelt suddenly and reached into his pocket without warning. Che was tilting dangerously on the verge of attacking when, instead of a weapon, he drew out something resembling a dog treat and held it aloft in his hand. "Aha! I knew I had one in here somewhere."

She would have been insulted at the mere insinuation if she hadn’t been so on edge.

“Okay, why do you have a dog treat in your pocket?” Trixie asked, in spite of herself. She sounded exactly like her mother, exasperation clear in her voice and her comfort with the situation rapidly depleting. With no pet in sight to speak of, this man was clearly one sandwich short of a picnic- to put it mildly. 

“I told you kid. I love dogs!” he exclaimed as if a light had suddenly switched on in his head. Honestly, Che wasn’t sure there was much going on up there. The wheel might be spinning but the hamster was long dead. "She's just had pups, actually," he continued, his tone wistful. "Seven of them. Little brown and white things and as small as your hand." He wiggled his fingers for emphasis. 

“You're a tourist with… puppies?” Trixie deadpanned, expression now one of ludicrous disbelief. That was one of the first things her mom had ever drummed into her head. Never follow a stranger, no matter what he says he has in his van. Puppies, kittens, the entire cast of Steven Universe. It didn't matter.

Che watched on with a sort of amused indignation. Suddenly, the whole situation seemed so amusing. Ludicrous even. This man was clearly some kind of simpleton and all at once the threat to the girl was almost non-existent in her eyes. Che didn’t know what she’d been expecting up here, but _this_ hadn’t been it. This pathetic attempt at lies that even a child could sniff out. The posturing and the sad attempts at flattery and playing the helpless, lost tourist. Human were nothing more than bumbling buffoons- with some extreme exceptions.

It was little wonder that none of them realised their cell doors were never locked.

So it was overconfidence that made her stride forward to sniff at the proffered dog biscuit. To humour the pathetic human who clearly couldn't even formulate a decent plan, let alone execute it.

“Here pup,” the man hedged and waggled it in Che’s direction and she glanced down at the bone shaped, dry looking biscuit in his palm. She lowered her nose ever so slightly and inhaled, slowly and hard.

All at once, a memory of cubed meat and the smell of poison assaulted her and she reared back and away from him, sneezing hard and shaking her head. Lord in Hell that made her eyes water. There must have been enough of whatever poison he'd picked to fell the biggest demon in Hell for at least an hour. But then again, the biggest demon in Hell?

Oh, they had nothing on her.

Her eyes snapped up to the man suddenly and her stare was glacial. He froze too. Without taking her eyes off of him, Che moved herself between him and Trixie- every movement she made meant to give a very clear statement.

_Back. Off. Or. Die._

She bared her teeth in warning, a deep, threatening snarl splitting the air and drew she herself to her full height. While not as imposing as her true form, she could smell the sudden fear coming from him a mile away.

Stupid they may be, she thought.

But they were also monsters when they wanted something they couldn’t have.

“Che doesn’t like you and neither do I. I’m going to go get my mom,” Trixie said with a hard air of finality, her hand on Che’s back now. Che was barely breathing, her body humming in preparation for the hunt. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears- feel the steady _thump, thump, thump_ of her heartbeat. The stranger looked alarmed, holding his hands up again- the book flapping uselessly in the sudden breeze. Che could see the frustration and fear in his eyes when he glanced at the house _again._

Things had clearly not gone the way he wanted them to.

“Look, sweetheart, you’re gonna come with me and point me in the right direction okay?” he said, his voice dropping the mild mannered tone and taking on one of urgent anger instead. He reached out his right hand and Trixie scowled at him.

“I said no!” she shouted and Che snarled in agreement and whatever lurching step the man had been about to take forward to grab her- which would have ended in his inevitable demise- was thwarted by a door slamming open to their left.

Chloe barged out, gun on her hip, looking absolutely _furious_.

“Hey! Who the Hell are you and why are you talking to my daughter?” she asked, her voice hard and no-nonsense as she stormed down the steps towards them. Che could see how tense the stranger’s shoulders had suddenly become and he took a step back from their personal space. She revelled in the sudden smell of panic she caught on the breeze. Absolutely divine.

Lucifer had appeared as well, smoothing his hair down as he approached the little crowd and he shared a long, questioning look with Che when he came to a stop.

“I’m really sorry miss, I-I was just asking for directions-” he said, flustered now that he was being confronted by two adults- one of whom had a gun and one of whom who towered over him by a foot at least. Chloe didn't seem swayed by his nervous demeanour in the least.

“Maybe next time you should try asking a goddamn adult,” she barked and even Che looked impressed at the anger vibrating off of her in waves. It was so heavy that it almost suffocated the fear on the breeze. Lucifer smirked by her side, arms behind his back. He would gladly take a back seat if it meant watching Chloe unleash on someone. All the more for him to enjoy it.

“Everything okay here?”

Out of nowhere, Daniel appeared, his belongings in hand. He was right at the man’s back and despite the fact that they were the same height, his irate body language made the stranger shrink away. He laughed nervously, falling over his words as he tried to scramble together some kind of explanation for what had been going on. He clearly hadn't thought it would take long enough for anyone to notice them talking but, once again, Che thought. Trixie was a clever little thing. No pulling the wool over her eyes with tales of puppies and lost tourists.

Dan and Chloe looked at each other, silently conveying a message of distrust and relief at the same time. One that only parents could send to each other. Dan had only been gone for a few minutes at most, picking up his wallet and telling Monroe that he was on his way back.

In that one, brief period of time, this guy had been talking to his daughter and saying God knows what.

Angry wasn’t the word that described the emotion he was currently experiencing.

While the man attempted to stutter an excuse out as charmingly as possible, Trixie tugged firmly on Lucifer’s sleeve and he bent at the waist to listen to what she had to say.

“He wouldn’t quit bothering Che and I, Lucifer!” she said, exasperatedly. Lucifer frowned, nodding slowly for her to continue and letting her know she had his undivided attention. “He tried to give Che food out of his pocket- which is gross by the way,” she wrinkled her nose. “But then Che started to growl at him instead. _Then_ he got all angry and told me to come with him and give him directions to some hotel that I’ve never heard of. I mean, what am I? Has he never heard of Google maps?”

Lucifer chuckled darkly at her attempt at humour.

“Is that right?” he said lowly, glancing at the man who was paying them no attention. He kept the anger away from his voice lest Beatrice think it was directed at her but it was there. Oh, _it was there_. “What else happened? Did he hurt you in any way?”

Much to his relief, Trixie shook her head quite firmly.

“No. Che stood in front of me the whole time. Anyway, if he’d come near me I was going to kick him in the special place Maze taught me about,” she said, fierce as ever. Lucifer had no doubt that he wouldn’t have gotten that close if Che was indeed in front of her- but he certainly had no qualms about her kicking the stranger in the balls if the moment called for it.

Sometimes he forgot that she was being trained by his most lethal warrior.

All the same though- a child is still a child and a grown man is still a grown man.

Said grown man simpered and introduced himself as Michael then proclaimed that he was just an innocent tourist, looking for his hotel. In the middle of a _residential_ area, no less. The name he'd picked for himself was yet another poor choice on his part as Lucifer bristled at the sound of it and grimaced. Of all the bloody names... Honestly. He really wasn't endearing himself to the Devil.

In a moment of- something, he wouldn’t be able to name until much later- Lucifer pressed a kiss to the top of Trixie’s head affectionately. Then he ruffled her hair for good measure, lest he was seen to be going too soft on her.

“Thank you for telling me, urchin.”

She beamed at him- the biggest smile he was sure she’d ever given him and at that moment he didn’t think he would trade these humans for all the forgiveness his Father had to offer. Between Chloe and Trixie Decker, he’d become quite possibly the sappiest Devil to ever walk to face of the earth. He cleared his throat suddenly, breaking the moment.

“Che darling? Anything to add before we begin sentencing?”

_I want to eat him._

“Oh, good show,” Lucifer beamed wickedly. "Might want to save that part for later though. He might be... useful until then," he clicked his tongue thoughtfully, straightening up and placing a protective hand on Trixie’s head. All eyes turned to him, having not been privy to his quiet conversation with Trixie and Che. Chloe looked at him expectantly. The look he returned was a clear message that confirmed her worst fears and her face lost the red tinge of anger, sinking instead into a paleness that came only with fear.

Lucifer didn’t give her a chance to speak though, already saying coldly, “So, _Michael_. A very clever little birdy just told me that you like to try and grab little girls on the street. I mean,” Lucifer huffed out a fake, humourless laugh. “You’re making some absolutely abysmal life choices today aren’t you?”

The man was sprinting before Chloe could even unholster her gun.

“L.A.P.D! Stop right there you _son of a bitch_!” she bellowed, with such righteous anger that Lucifer could have sworn it had come from Amenadiel. He was impressed, if he did say so himself.

The stranger was already halfway across the complex and heading towards the gate- with not a single intention to do as Chloe said. Sharing a look, she and Dan made to take off after him but they'd barely gained a foot when Lucifer lay a hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop abruptly.

He collared Dan a little _less_ gently and pulled him to a stop.

“Lucifer!” Dan balked, horrified at the sudden hold up.”What the hell? He’s getting _away_ man! This isn't the time for you to- to- be you!”

“Honestly, such bloody theatrics Daniel!" Lucifer tutted, the figure getting further away as he did. "There's absolutely no need for you to exert yourself unnecessarily,” he waved away Dan’s trivial concerns, seemingly unperturbed by the head start that the stranger had on them. Dan gaped at him, open mouthed. 

“Lucifer, babe, this would be a really good time for you to either use those wings of yours or do something else _really_ productive,” Chloe said impatiently, also seemingly not catching on to the eager animal who was now on her feet and desperate to get moving. Lucifer rolled his eyes fondly at her. While he might desire to be the one doing the chasing- she really had earned it.

“Allow us,” he gestured to himself and then down to Che, who was weaving from side to side desperately now, huffing and panting and chuffing like she needed to move or she would simply die. “Che?”

She was practically bouncing now in one spot, desperate to begin the chase. Inside her chest the beast she’d chained down howled and thrashed, begging to be free as it caught the scent of fear from it’s prey. It was an intoxicating feeling and she longed for it.

_“Haal.”_

Her master’s voice dropped an octave when he spoke- a far cry from the melodic tones that accompanied the language of Angel’s. _This_ was the language of Hell and Che felt as though she’d been bathed in warmth out of nowhere. Lucifer pointed in the man’s direction, a trail of dust and gravel being kicked up behind him almost comically.

The humans barely saw Che move as she tore forward.

She was nothing but a blur as she opened up.

With Lucifer’s moments of stalling, the stranger had a decent head start. In _human_ terms.

But for Che the chase began and ended in mere seconds. The sound of a vehicle roaring away registered somewhere in the back of her mind but it was nothing but a fleeting distraction as her muscles propelled her behind him. Dirt and mud clung to the underside of her paws and she used the friction to gain even more speed.

He’d pulled the shoulder high iron gate closed after him in the hopes that it would slow down any pursuer. But Che wasn’t just any pursuer. She cleared the obstacle with ease, the tips of the spiked railings barely brushing the fur on her stomach and hit the pavement with barely a sound made.

The man stumbled when he reached the road, his arm outstretched to where his escape had seemingly abandoned him- a van squealing down the road and into the distance, where it merged dangerously with traffic and vanished out of sight.

With no means of escape in a vehicle, he turned right instead, probably thinking he could simply make it on foot if he really tried.

But he also slowed significantly with the movement it took to turn, lacking the sort of grace that she had. Che took her opportunity like the well practised hunter she was. Even up here, on their turf- humans were easy pickings.

With a serious speed, she slipped ahead of him, turned in a perfect arc and surged upward all in the same motion- graceful and deadly. He didn’t stop nearly in time and ran right into her. Her jaws snapped tightly down on his arm, teeth sinking in to flesh without resistance, and his squeal of terror and pain was like the most beautiful symphony to her ears.

Her body might have been smaller than she was used to but it was still strong and with the momentum she’d gained from the run, Che twisted in mid air and the man came crashing down with a sickening crunch of bone meeting concrete.

Her teeth tore through the shirt he wore and into his flesh, ripping gashes across his forearm and the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth. She revelled in it- the familiarity and the raw fright on her tongue.

He sobbed and writhed, bucking and he brought his fist down against the side of her head weakly. Che only bit harder when he did. The stupid book was torn to shreds in his pathetic effort to defend himself, inconsequential in the face of Che’s cold anger.

He twisted and shrieked for help, attempting to wildly kick at her but she persevered, only pulling back and dragging a chunk of something wet with her. She slammed one paw against his chest, spitting out the hunk of flesh onto the pavement and then pressed him down to the ground, growling and snarling and letting the rage that had built up for days out at last.

His wail was almost melodic as she brought her face, teeth bared, close to his. Saliva and his own blood dripped freely onto his tear stained cheek as she bore down on him threateningly and Che’s tongue lapped out over her muzzle.

The satisfaction she felt here, in this moment, would only be doubled when she found the owner of that scent under the girls window. This wasn’t him at all, but she could smell it now on his clothes like he’d been near to him.

That thought only spurred her anger on harder- but just as her teeth closed lightly across his throat-

_“Vrylaat! Vrylaat!”_

Came the icy order from behind her and as much as she didn’t want to stop, Che did as she was commanded immediately, turning to see Lucifer stalking towards them with a sense of purpose. Energy crackled in the air that had nothing to do with storm clouds as he leaned down and curled a hand into the stranger’s bloody shirt- lifting him slowly, so, so slowly into the air.

Che watched in a sort of icy fascination as he blubbered and pleaded with her master for mercy.

His injured arm hung uselessly by his side, blood dripping in rivulets down to the concrete below. She examined it, pleased with her work and the feeling of blood drying around her muzzle. It was just like the good old days.

“I think it’s time that you and I had a little tête-à-tête, don’t you?” Lucifer said, after what seemed like an age of begging and sobbing.

His voice was calm but Che could _feel_ the raw rage rolling off of him from where she was sitting. She wagged her tail from side to side, ecstatic at the show of power- and momentarily sated now that she’d finally run someone down. It was like she had stretched her muscles after years of forced lethargy and she couldn’t wait for more.

The man whimpered like a baby on the way back- a short walk for Lucifer and Che but probably the longest of this so called _‘Michael’_ s life. All the more time to play with him, if you asked her. And so Che snapped at his ankles threateningly all the while, enjoying the way he jumped and tried to scrabble away- never getting far with Lucifer’s iron grip on the back of his neck.

He was dumped in a pathetic, quivering heap at Chloe’s feet, Che still circling and snarling like she longed for nothing more than to rip his throat out. Dan, well aware that the blood that coated both the man’s arm and Che’s muzzle would possibly scar his daughter for life, shielded her from the grizzly scene- despite her best efforts to get to Che and check if she was alright.

Red and blue flashed in the distance and still he whimpered on pathetically as though that was going to save his wretched soul.

Che ignored the urge to go to the child as she called her, keeping her bloodied appearance out of sight as well as she could. Instead, she loomed over her prey, staring coldly, not even moving under the gentle caress of Chloe’s fingers through her fur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Regular updates should occur because it's basically finished. There will be smut, the tags don't lie. Che looks like an Australian Shepherd because reasons. Oh, and I've missed you all, a lot!


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